Teen Titans: Insomniac
by Black Widow of La Porte
Summary: With the majority of their foes incapacitated, the Teen Titans' jobs have never been easier. While the remaining villains struggle to stay relevant, a new enemy appears to bring the Titans a new challenge.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note** **:** **For posterity's sake, I will be adjusting the timeline of the show to coincide with the year 2015, because I can and it makes it easier to list dates. Now, the story takes place about four months after the final episode.**_

 **Teen Titans: Insomniac**

 **Chapter 1: Night Sessions**

* * *

 **California, USA**

 **Wednesday, September 16, 2015**

 **2:00 AM**

Jack pulled to a stop at a diner off the road. He stepped out of the car, clicking the lock button on the zotter as he closed the door. He stepped up to the diner's entrance and walked in.

"Good morning, honey." The middle-aged waitress greeted him.

Jack examined her, adjusting his glasses. She was in her 50s for sure, and had red, wavy hair with traces of gray in her roots, which had yet to become brittle. She had brown eyes, and a fair complexion and appearance. She was about 5'7" and rather skinny. All in all, she was rather attractive for her age, Jack thought.

Jack stepped towards the counter and leaned against the counter.

"Hello, beautiful." He smiled, biting his bottom lip.

The waitress blushed as she returned the smile.

"Just for you, then?" She asked.

"Just for me… Joyce." Jack read her nametag. He took a seat at the counter right in front of her.

"What's a nice young man like you doing up so early?" Joyce asked. "Don't you sleep?"

"Not today." Jack said. "I have things to do."

"I see." Joyce took out her pen and put it to the notepad in her hand. "What'll it be then, hon?"

"Hmm… I'll have… a waffle, with a side of bacon and hashbrowns. And a glass of water."

"No coffee?" Joyce asked, scribbling the order down.

"Coffee doesn't agree with me."

"Okay then. Coming up." Joyce tore the ticket off the notepad and brought it to the kitchen.

" _As… rning… mut…"_ Jack adjusted his earpiece as it began to pick up static. _"Br… ood."_

"What are you going on about?" Jack mumbled to himself. He pressed a button on the earpiece and the signal became stronger.

" _Repeat… warning… Mammoth… Lantern District."_

"A mammoth? What's wrong with these people?" Jack pushed the button again and the channel went silent.

* * *

 **Jump City**

" _Warning: Mammoth has been sighted in the Lantern District. All units, proceed with caution. Lethal force is authorized."_

"He was bound to show up sooner or later." Cyborg remarked.

"Let's move out, Titans." Robin said.

 _*Insert main title theme here. One, two, three, four, go!*_

* * *

 **Lantern District**

Mammoth had already taken care of most of the police force sent to apprehend him. He tossed around the squad cars as they arrived and beat down the officers that managed to get out of their cars. Soon he turned his attention to the rest of the illuminated Chinatown surroundings. His attention was short-lived as Robin's exploding Birdarangs hit him in the back. Mammoth groaned and stumbled as he recovered from the attack. He turned around to see the Titans scouting on a rooftop.

"Anyone ever tell you that going solo was a bad idea?" Robin asked him.

Mammoth growled and roared defiantly at them.

"Guess not." Cyborg said.

"Titans, go!" Robin called as they all leapt to action.

Cyborg immediately fired his sonic cannon at Mammoth as Starfire fired Starbolts. Mammoth raised his arms up to brace against the attacks. Beast Boy changed into an elephant and charged at him. Mammoth placed his hands up and caught Beast Boy by the horn, stopping him in place. Beast Boy quickly transformed into a python and coiled around Mammoth's arm and torso, restricting his movements. Mammoth growled as he struggled, trying to grab at the snake. Raven remotely restrained his arms and hands, forcing them down. Cyborg and Starfire simultaneously charged at Mammoth, punching him in opposite sides of the jaw. Mammoth staggered backwards, trying to keep his balance. Robin drove his Bo staff into the ground and vaulted upwards, delivering a powerful kick straight to his face. Mammoth was sent flying backwards and crashed hard into the ground.

"Don't tell me that's it." Cyborg said, confidently. "I was expecting more, to be honest."

Mammoth stood back up, pulling the snake Beast Boy off of him and tossing him away. He roared at the Titans and slammed his fists into the ground.

"You had to say it, didn't you?" Raven said to Cyborg.

"Come on." Cyborg said. "It's not like we can't handle him. It's one of him, and five of us."

"Knowing the math doesn't give us an advantage."

"If we were all taking a math test, it would." Beast Boy said. "I mean, it's not like this guy knows any math."

"Will you shut up and pay attention?" Cyborg shouted as he fired another round from his sonic cannon at Mammoth.

Mammoth shielded himself from the blast with his arms, charging towards the three of them. Starfire made a beeline for Mammoth to intercept him. The two reeled their fists back as they neared each other, and connected with each other. The force from the punch sent out a minor shockwave that split the ground beneath them. Mammoth winded his other hand back for another blow. Starfire swiftly avoided the attack and punched him directly in the side of the head. Mammoth shrugged off the blow and swung at her again. Starfire grabbed his hand and tossed him towards the others.

Cyborg shouted as he charged at Mammoth and delivered a decisive blow to his back. Mammoth howled in pain as he fell to the ground, trying to grab at the injury site.

Beast Boy transformed into a giant anaconda and once again wrapped himself around Mammoth to restrain him.

"Keep your eyes on him." Robin said as he approached Mammoth.

Mammoth groaned as he tried to get up. Beast Boy tightened his grip on him, keeping him pinned down. Robin pointed his staff at Mammoth's face.

"Don't move." Robin said. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like, bird boy?" Mammoth growled.

Robin pressed the edge of the staff under Mammoth's chin.

"I'm only going to ask _nicely_ once more."

"I'm not saying anything to you." Mammoth growled at him.

"You can keep _not_ saying anything in prison." Robin swiftly kneeled down and punched Mammoth in the face, knocking him out cold.

Beast Boy reverted to normal form and let out a loud yawn.

"Please tell me we can go back to bed after we get Tons-of-Fun back to his cell." He said.

"We need to see to it personally that he's locked up." Robin said. "I don't want any surprises. Beast Boy and Starfire, keep an eye out for possible reinforcements. Cyborg, you and I will make sure that Mammoth stays down until the police arrive. Raven, pick up all the officers and tend to their injuries. When they call in for the transport, tell them we're coming along."

"You don't think things are just this simple?" Raven asked.

"No."

"Raven's got a point." Cyborg said. "We dealt with all of our heaviest hitters months ago. You can count who we missed on one hand. Mammoth's just a punk running blind."

"That's why it stands to reason he would join up with whoever's left. We're not going to let things get out of hand."

"Dude, don't you think maybe you're… overthinking things?" Beast Boy asked.

"We can't take any chances. We're not letting our guard down."

"Okay, then…"

The police quickly arrived on the scene to take care of Mammoth. They attached many shackles to his limbs, binding him so tightly that he couldn't move his arms or legs a bit.

"You think these pitiful strings will hold me?" Mammoth taunted them.

"They were made to hold someone much stronger than you." Sergeant Yates responded. "You're not going anywhere we don't want you to."

"Sergeant." Robin said to get his attention.

"We appreciate the help." Yates turned to him. "Don't worry, in an hour, he'll be staring at a newly-reinforced cell."

"We're coming with you."

"Is that necessary?" Yates asked, curiously. "Is there something that we should be concerned about?"

"It's just a precaution. Nothing to worry about."

"Alright, then. If you say so. Once we get this guy loaded up, we can get moving."

The Titans looked on to see the officers struggling to move Mammoth into the back of the transport vehicle. Mammoth, who wasn't making things easy for them, sneered at the scene.

"Let me give you a hand." Cyborg moved past them.

 _ **BAM!**_ Cyborg punched Mammoth in face once, before grabbing his arms and tossing him effortlessly into the truck.

"Uh… thank you." One of the officers said.

"No problem." Cyborg replied.

"Alright, let's get this ugly sucker back where he belongs." Yates said. "Let's move it!"

"Let's move out, Titans." Robin said. He, Cyborg and Beast Boy climbed into the T-Car as Raven and Starfire levitated into the air to follow from above.

The police officers moved into their cars and the transport started towards the prison.

"Why do we have to follow them?" Beast Boy complained. "Come on, things are different than before. No one's gonna come to help Elephant-Man."

"There's always someone out there."

"Don't tell me you think Slade is somehow involved." Cyborg said.

"It wouldn't be a stretch." Robin replied.

"I knew it!" Beast Boy shouted. "It's always 'Slade this' and 'Slade that' with you!"

"He's a dangerous person." Robin growled. "Have you forgotten that? He's the only one left capable of causing massive damage."

At that moment, the threes' coms units rang. They opened it to hear Starfire speak.

" _I agree with Robin."_ She said. _"We must protect the city against any threat."_

"Even the imaginary ones?" Beast Boy asked.

" _Yes. Of all of us, Robin is the most skilled at understanding the bad guys. I believe we should trust in his abilities the same way he does."_

"Agreed." Cyborg reinforced the sentiment.

Robin smiled confidently with the reassurance.

"Oh, come on!" Beast Boy shouted. "Raven, please tell me that you've got my back on this one?"

" _Uhh, I could say that…"_ Raven said. _"But it would be a lie."_

Beast Boy growled as he put away his com and crossed his arms.

"Suck it up." Cyborg said. "We're doing this, and it's not gonna be with your attitude. We need to be ready for anything."

* * *

 **Much Further Away…**

Jack opened the door to his car and stepped in. He pressed a button on the center console and the monitor turned on.

" _Recalculating…"_ The GPS said. _"Course set for Jump City, 84.6 miles away."_

"Don't go anywhere." Jack turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. "Here I come."

* * *

 **End Chapter 1**

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Sorry for the shorter than normal chapter, especially for the opening. Future chapters will be longer.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Faint**

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

 **Around 3 in the morning**

The Titans stood in their living room. Robin sat at one of the computers, examining recent reports of criminal activities and unresolved crimes. The others stood around him, mentally contemplating his fixation.

"Will you just let this thing go?" Cyborg said. "Mammoth's locked up now, and he's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"That's not what bothers me." Robin said.

" _How much you wanna bet that it's Slade?"_ Beast Boy whispered to the others.

"Look, man." Cyborg continued. "The only thugs left in this town are just a bunch of small-time punks. We can deal with them just like we always do, but not if you're gonna be obsessing about it all night."

"This is serious." Robin said, sternly. "We protect this city, and we have to be prepared for the worst, even if things seem normal."

"We _are_ prepared for the worst. I'm not saying we should take it easy, I'm just telling you that you need to sleep, just like the rest of us do."

"Go ahead. I'm not keeping you up."

"Okay, good night." Raven said as she turned to leave the room, only to be stopped by Starfire.

"Please, Robin." Starfire said, moving closer to him. "We are your friends, and you are worrying us. Please, take care of yourself as you do with our city."

Robin pursed his lips and looked down, captivated by Starfire's plea. Starfire moved closer and put her hand on Robin's shoulder.

"If not for your friends, then will you do it for me? Your girlfriend?"

Robin sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead before turning off the computer.

"Alright. Let's go to bed." He said.

Starfire smiled and Cyborg sighed in relief. Robin stood up and they all left the room. Beast Boy lagged behind, walking next to Raven.

"Why does he listen to her and not the rest of us?" He whispered.

"I don't know." Raven said, plainly. "I guess girlfriends have that power."

"Really? Cool. I wonder if boyfriends can do that, too."

"I wouldn't count on it." Raven disappeared into the floor.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

 **11:22 pm**

Robin awoke from his slumber, practically shooting up out of bed as he saw the time on his alarm clock. He immediately dressed and rushed up to the main foyer, where the rest of the Titans were gathered. Cyborg was cooking breakfast in the kitchen, while simultaneously fighting Beast Boy to keep his vegetarian food off the stove. Raven was sitting at the table, reading a book, only briefly stopping to glance at Robin as he came in. Starfire immediately flew over to him.

"Good morning, Robin." Starfire cheerfully hugged him.

"Good morning." Robin returned the hug. As he pulled back, Starfire stared at him expectantly. He sighed and kissed her. Starfire smiled and giggled contently.

"Good morning, _Loverboy_ Wonder." Beast Boy teased him, before being thrown over the counter by Cyborg.

"Get outta here, man!" Cyborg shouted. "Keep that nasty stuff away from my food! I don't want to be infected with vegetarianism."

"It's not a _disease_!" Beast Boy shouted back. "And what am _I_ supposed to eat?"

"Since you're a vegetarian, why don't you go find a field of grass to chew on?"

"Very funny." Beast Boy climbed back over the counter, transforming into a yeti, and pulled Cyborg away from the stove.

"Aah!" Cyborg shouted. "Stop that! Now, you're gonna get hair all over the food!"

"Cut it out, guys." Robin said, sternly.

"But he started it!" Beast Boy said, returning to normal form. Cyborg immediately pulled him away from the stove.

"I don't care. Cut it out. Let Cyborg finish cooking so the rest of us can eat."

Beast Boy frowned and crossed his arms, while Cyborg grinned smugly. Robin and Starfire moved over to the table and sat next to Raven.

"Did we all wake up this late?" Robin asked.

"Eleven-thirty isn't late." Beast Boy said.

"Yes, and yes, it _is_." Raven said.

"We usually get woken up when there's bad guys to deal with." Cyborg said. "But, there's not any, so…"

"I guess we just do our job too well." Beast Boy said.

"I think it's about time we earned a break." Cyborg said.

"That means we 'have the day off,' correct?" Starfire asked.

"Well…" Robin said. "Yeah, but we still need to stay alert."

"Yeah, yeah, we have the day off." Beast Boy said. "Come on, dude, don't tell me you're not excited that we don't have anything better to do. You like having a day off just as much as we do."

"It's not that I don't like it. It's the silence I don't like."

"This is most wonderful." Starfire said, pressing her hands together. "Now we may enjoy our day, perhaps by partaking in a banquet at the park, or attending the movies, or visiting the fairgrounds at the pier."

"Sounds great." Cyborg said. "But first things first: breakfast."

* * *

 **Jump City, Downtown District**

Jack awoke from his sleep, yawning and stretching out in bed. He glanced at the clock and groaned.

"Stop laughing." He said, pushing it off the nightstand.

 _*Ring, ring! Ring, ring! Sound that a phone makes when ringing!*_ Jack picked his phone up and answered it.

"Hello?"

" _Hi, sweetie!"_

"Hello… whoever you are." Jack sat up in bed and rubbed the sleepies out of his eyes.

" _Funny. Are you just waking up?"_

"No, I've been awake for _hours._ " Jack said.

" _Very funny. I tried to call you this morning and you didn't answer. Guess I know why, now."_

"I said I'd be driving all night. I didn't get here until 6 in the morning. I've gotta sleep sometime."

" _You already look like you don't sleep at all. You have bags like an owl."_

"I'll take that as a compliment, because owls are cool."

" _Heh, so when are you gonna be home?"_

"Later… maybe sometime this week."

" _Aww, I'll miss you."_

"You, too."

" _Tell me."_

"No."

" _Yes. I'm not hanging up until you do."_

"Shut up and get back to work. You have a job, don't you?"

" _Don't change the subject. Say it."_

Jack bit his lip and rolled his eyes. "I love you."

" _I love you, too, honey."_

"Get back to work, candy girl." Jack said, hanging up and setting the phone back down. He sighed again and stretched his arms out. "Lots to do, lots to do. First things, first… where are _you?"_

* * *

 **Later…**

 **4:33 pm**

"Okay…" Beast Boy said. "We went to the pier, we rode bumper cars, the rollercoaster, the Ferris Wheel, the hall of mirrors… we went to the park and had lunch, played some football, came back to the Tower, played some video games, and a game of cards… is there anything else we can do?"

"Umm…" Cyborg rubbed his chin in though. "I think there's a car show in Steel City. Anyone down?"

The others shook their heads.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Cyborg said, dejectedly.

"How about we hit up one of the clubs?" Beast Boy said. "I've been working on my dance moves."

The others groaned.

"I do not wish to watch you whip, nor would I like to see you nay nay." Starfire said.

Beast Boy sighed and sat back down.

"Raven." Starfire said. "Perhaps you want to watch one of the shows about the tiny horses?"

Raven immediately slapped her hand over Starfire's mouth in panic.

" _Or not."_ Starfire said, muffled.

"There's gotta be something we can do." Robin mused.

"We could… watch a movie?" Cyborg suggested. "Do we have anything new?"

"No." Beast Boy said.

"Oh, well… isn't there a new thing for that, now?"

"Yeah, but you need to make an account."

"Oh… is there anything on tv?"

"There's _never_ anything on tv."

"Come on, guys." Robin said. "We need to think bigger than just what we can do _here._ There's a world of possibilities out _there._ There are exotic cities and forests filled with excitement. We have a ship that can go to the bottom of the ocean, or the darkest reaches of space. There's always _something_ we can do."

The others said nothing for a minute or so. Robin took out his coms unit and flipped it open. There were no new alerts. He sighed and slumped back down.

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later…**

"Sir…" Beast Boy read from the book. "It is lamentable that mass agricultural development is not speeded by fuller use of your marvelous mechanisms. Would it not be easily possible to employ some of them in quick laboratory experiments to indicate the influence of various types of fertilizers on plant growth?"

"You are right." Cyborg continued. "Countless uses of Bose instruments will be made by future generations. The scientist seldom knows contemporaneous reward; it is enough to possess the joy of creative service."

"This was a bad idea." Beast Boy said, closing the book. "What the heck did you trick us into reading, Raven? Sounds like some kind of creepy occult thing."

"Stop going into my room and taking things." Raven said.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, at the Mall of Shopping**

Jack stepped into an old antique shop and looked around. There was a surplus of junked home furnishings like lamps, silverware and whatever, most of it completely unorganized and left just lying around. The shop looked more like the inside of a hoarder's home.

Jack walked over to a bunch of canes lying on a glass table, but immediately dismissed them. He walked over to the back of the store towards the sound of people talking. The store owner was getting ready to write up the ticket for a man holding…

"That's mine." Jack shifted past him and snatched the cane off the table.

"Hey! I'm getting that." The man grabbed at the cane.

Jack swiftly grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed him face-first into the counter, breaking his nose, and let him slump to the floor unconscious. The store owner gasped in shock, and Jack turned to leave.

"You-you can't do that." The store owner said, shaken by fear.

"Wrong." Jack turned to face him, raising his cane up, the top pointed directly at the store owner. A black aura surrounded the cane's top and pooled into a spherical form.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

 _*Chirp, chirp! Chirp, chirp!*_ The Titans' coms units all rang out simultaneously.

"About time." Cyborg said as they all took them out and flipped them open.

"There's been a disturbance at the mall." Robin said. "Let's move out, Titans!"

* * *

 **End Chapter 2**

* * *

Credit goes to Paramahansa Yogananda, author of _"Autobiography of a Yogi,"_ which was paraphrased in this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Different in Every Way**

* * *

 **Thursday, 17 September**

 **The Mall of Shopping**

 **4:55 pm**

The Titans arrived at the mall quickly enough. The cops, firefighters and paramedics had arrived at roughly the same time, and had administered first aid to the store owner and the customer. The Titans approached the store owner to question him.

"It-it-it all happened so quickly…" The store owner said, shakily. "I-I-I just don't… I don't remember it very well."

"Anything you can tell us will help us catch him." Robin said. "Please try to stay calm and tell us what happened."

"Well… I was—I was writing up the ticket on this young man over there…" He pointed at the customer in the ambulance. "He was buying this cane that I had in the store. It was—it was this really… interesting piece. It looked like it was carved from ebony wood, and it was topped with this-this ivory handle, carved into the shape of a skull. It was nothing fancy, now, but it was just so perfectly crafted. It was really, _really_ beautiful."

" _Please_ tell us what happened in the store."

"Right, right. Um, he was buying th—the cane, when this other young man walked in. He came up from behind and snatched the cane right out of his hands. This young man tried to take it back, and th—then the other one, he smacked him into the counter, and put him… well, you see him now."

"Okay, okay. And what happened after that?"

"I tried to catch him, to stop him. And he—he stopped and turned back at me. He pointed the cane straight at me, and this—this black… misty smoke appeared at the top of the cane. It looked like a-a-a black ball. He launched it at the wall, and the—the whole store just about exploded. I got knocked over, and… well, that's all I remember before waking up to them treating me."

"Can you remember what he looked like?"

"He, um… he had black hair." The store owner motioned over his head, trying to gestate Jack's hairstyle. "It was kind of long, and weird, like you kids wear. He had it covering up one of his eyes. How do you kids see like that?"

"Can you tell us more?"

"He was kind of tall, much taller than me and yourself. But not nearly as tall as you there, big guy." The store owner pointed at Cyborg. "He had black clothes, with a heavy coat, and glasses..." The old man paused a moment, as if he was trying to remember something else.

"Thanks. We'll let them take care of you, now." Robin turned to go back to the others.

The old man suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him back around.

"His eyes… were haunting." He said. "They were like the sky, raining down on me."

"We'll catch him. Don't worry about him." Robin said, turning and walking back to the Titans.

"What's the take on him?" Cyborg asked.

"We're looking for a man in his 20's." Robin said. "Around 6 feet tall, but no taller than 6'5". Black hair, and blue eyes, wears glasses."

Cyborg opened the scanner on his arm and keyed in the search criteria. The data compiled for a few seconds before turning up blank.

"Nothing on him in the city's criminal records." Cyborg said.

"Expand the search to the rest of the country." Robin said. "Don't rule anyone out. Beast Boy, can you track his scent?"

"Not if I don't already know what to be looking for." Beast Boy said. "Plus the explosion pretty much destroyed any remnants of smell from the store. I wouldn't be able to find it. And there's no way I could pick it out from all the smells in the rest of the mall. I mean, there's no way to even count them all."

"I don't think there's a way for any of us to track him." Cyborg said. "If we're gonna find him, it'll have to be the old-fashioned way."

"Right." Robin said. "He's bound to still be somewhere nearby. We'll split up and check the city. Starfire, check downtown."

"Yes." Starfire nodded.

"Raven, check South Central and the west side. Beast Boy, check the area around the mall, and let us know if you find any unusual scents."

"You mean 'unusual,' anything that doesn't smell like pizza and garbage, right?" Beast Boy asked.

"Cyborg and I will cover the north and east sides of the city. Report back if you find someone that looks like him. He's dangerous, so be careful if you find him, and don't engage him unless it's absolutely necessary. Take him down if you can, otherwise, hold your ground, and wait for the rest of us to arrive."

"Got it." The other Titans said in unison.

"Let's move out, Titans."

They all split up to search.

* * *

 **Later, at the Downtown District…**

Jack took a seat at the pizza shop. He sat for a moment, mindlessly staring at the menu as the waiter walked up to him.

"Hey." The waiter said, bored because he hates his job. "Well, you're not the weirdest person I've seen today."

"What?" Jack said.

"I mean, are you ready to order?" The waiter quickly said, realizing his previous statement.

"Yes…" Jack said, biting his lip as he furrowed his brow. "I'll have a large stuffed-crust pizza with pepperoni extra cheese, and a Present Perfect cola."

"Great, it'll be ready… sometime." The waiter said as he wrote the order down. He took the menu before walking away.

"I'll tell you where you can stuff that, you window-licker."Jack mumbled to himself.

"Um, excuse me?" Said a voice from behind Jack.

"Hm?" Jack turned around in his seat to come face-to-face with Starfire. His angry expression changed as he raised a brow, scrutinizing her appearance.

 _Green eyes…_ He thought. _Orange skin, and bright red hair. And that outfit…_

"A horrible event occurred not too long ago…" Starfire started. "We are looking for a person who is male, tall, with black hair and blue eyes, and is carrying a cane. I was worried that perhaps it might be you, but you do not have a cane, and do not appear to be a horrible person."

"I see…" Jack said, touching the cane with his foot as it lay on the floor next to him.

"Have you seen someone that looks similar to you, but has a cane, and appears to have sinister intentions?"

"No, I haven't." Jack said, calmly, shifting his eyes down as he looked over her.

"I'm sorry if I bothered you." Starfire said, bowing her head.

"No trouble at all." Jack smiled. "Take care… and find that guy, now."

"Thank you, we will." Starfire turned around and ascended into the air, flying off.

Jack's eyes widened as he pushed his glasses into place, following Starfire's movement. The HUD marked her and began tracking her location, even as she disappeared from Jack's view.

"I guess you can see Florida." Jack mused. "The girls are much different than you, Nik."

 _Who's 'we?'_ He thought. _…Eh, it took America 10 years to find one terrorist. I'm not worried._

* * *

 **Meanwhile, at the East Side of the City…**

Robin and Cyborg appeared next to each other, having completed their respective searches.

"Anything?" Robin asked.

"Nope." Cyborg replied. "You?"

"Nothing." Robin took out his coms unit, calling the other Titans. Cyborg took his out, replying in kind as the others answered theirs. "Titans, report."

" _Nothing on my end."_ Beast Boy replied.

" _Everyone over here is too stupid to be the guy we're looking for."_ Raven said.

" _I have not found the bad guy yet, either."_ Starfire said.

"Hold on." Cyborg said, looking at the police scanner on his arm. "My scanner's narrowing down the search results and crossing them with people in nearby cities… and there's over 2000 results."

The others sighed in disdain.

"Narrow it down further." Robin said.

"I can't." Cyborg said. "I need more to go on than his physical description."

"Divide up the results and send them to our coms units. We'll have to go through them all until we find someone that sticks out."

"You got it."

" _You want us to go through 2000 pictures until we find the guy we're looking for?"_ Beast Boy whined.

"There's five of us, so we'll each get about 400 to look through." Cyborg said.

" _Oh, come on!"_

"Cut it out." Robin said. "We don't have a better choice here."

" _But we don't even know what the guy looks like! How are we supposed to know who it is?"_

"Use your judgement."

* * *

 **About a Half-Hour Later…**

" _*Gasp!*"_

"What is it, Starfire?" Robin asked.

" _I recognize this picture."_ Starfire said, sending the picture of Jack to rest of the Titans.

"I'm looking up the rest of his information." Cyborg said, computing the data on his scanner. "Let's see… 'Jack Felix Anthony von Nacht'?"

" _Is that German or wasp?"_ Beast Boy asked.

"He's got a record, but nothing as colorful as blowing up a whole store. It's mostly drug charges."

" _Oh, he seemed like a polite person."_ Starfire said.

"Star, did you see him?" Robin asked.

" _Yes, I spoke to him earlier while he was eating at our most-beloved pizza shop. But he did not have a cane. Perhaps he is still not the person we are looking for?"_

"Hang on." Cyborg said. "I pulled up one his most recent arrests, dated January 3, 2013. They catalogued his cane as evidence, but returned it upon his release."

Cyborg sent an archive photo of Jack's cane to the rest of them.

"It has a black body, topped with a white skull." Cyborg said. "Matches what the old man described."

"No doubt about it." Robin said. "He's the one we're looking for. Let's make way to the pizza shop and continue the search for him there."

* * *

 **Shortly Thereafter…**

Jack walked up to his car and unlocked it, stepping in and closing the door. He started up the car and turned on the GPS.

" _He said I was his friend,"_ Played from the radio. " _Which came as some surprise, I spoke into his eyes."_

"Where to, next…" Jack said to himself as he played with the main console. "Hm?"

" _I thought you died alone, a long long time ago."_

The car shook and groaned as it rose into the air, suddenly.

" _Warning."_ The car's GPS voice said. _"Surface contact with the ground is lost."_

"Yes, thank you." Jack said.

The driver door suddenly opened and Jack was pulled out of the car and thrown to the ground.

"Out you get." Cyborg said.

"Well, you're definitely the weirdest bunch of carjackers I've ever seen." Jack said, looking over the Titans.

"We're not here for the car." Robin said. "We're bringing you in."

"No, I don't think so." Jack said, standing back up. "Whichever one of you is making my car fly, stop it. It was expensive."

Raven's eyes returned to normal and Jack's car dropped back to the ground.

"Thank you." Jack said. He pulled out the zotter and clicked it, turning the car off and locking it.

"You deceived me earlier when you told me that you were not the one who destroyed the store." Starfire said. "You may not look like an evil person, but you most certainly act like one."

"You must be fun at parties." Jack said.

"No more jokes." Robin said. "You're going to jail." The Titans shifted to battle-ready stances.

"Bye." Jack said, reaching his arm upwards. A plume of black smoke shot out from Jack hand and attached to the top of the building next to him. Jack instantly pulled himself upwards towards it.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted.

Beast Boy transformed into a hawk and he and Starfire flew upwards to follow him. Jack ran towards the corner of the roof facing the street and jumped off. He held his arms out, shooting two smoke clouds out in different directions and latched onto two buildings. The smoke trails contracted and quickly pulled Jack forward, sending him flying through the air.

Starfire immediately sped up to Jack and punched him in the back sending him crashing onto a rooftop below. Starfire and Beast Boy landed on the rooftop, while Raven teleported herself, Robin and Cyborg onto it.

Jack stood back up almost immediately after being grounded, and brushed off his clothes. He held his hand up and summoned the cane back.

"If you're smart, you'll give this up." He said.

"Oh, yeah?" Beast Boy started. "Well, we're _not_ smart! In fact, we're gonna show you just how _stupid_ we are!"

Jack and the other Titans glared at Beast Boy with a stunned silence.

"I see…" Jack said.

"Oh…" Beast Boy squeaked meekly. "That… sounded better in my head."

"Thanks for making us look good." Raven said.

"Well, that's enough." Jack said, pointing his cane forward and firing a blast of supercharged darkness.

* * *

 **End Chapter 3**

* * *

Credit goes to David Bowie, who wrote and recorded "The Man Who Sold the World," which was paraphrased in this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Outshined**

* * *

"Titans, move!" Robin shouted and the Titans all jumped away to avoid the attack.

Jack rushed high-speed at Robin, winding up for a punch. Robin quickly pulled out a staff from his belt and flipped it open to reveal a shield. Jack's punch connected with the center of it and knocked Robin backwards. Jack smirked at the spectacle.

"If you don't say anything, does the rest of your team just stand around doing nothing?" He asked.

Cyborg blindsided Jack, sending him straight to the ground and tumbling across the rooftop.

"Oh, we know just what to do on our own." Cyborg said.

"Color me humbled." Jack said, picking himself up.

Beast Boy transformed into a rhino and charged at Jack.

"An animal—great." Jack drove the bottom of the cane into the roof and held both of his hands out in front of him.

Beast Boy rammed straight into Jack's hands, only to be stopped dead in his tracks. Jack pushed him back and lifted him straight up into the air, and threw him back. Beast Boy turned back into normal as he landed back on the roof.

Cyborg fired a charge from his sonic cannon. Jack grabbed his cane and swung it, knocking the blast away with a swath of darkness. He pointed the cane at Cyborg and fired a pounding salvo of dark rockets at him. Cyborg jumped and scrambled around in an effort to dodge them.

"Come on, I only shot at you once!" Cyborg said before being knocked back by a few shots.

"That's what you get, Robo-Man." Jack said.

Starfire flew around the rooftop, firing off wave after wave of Starbolts at Jack. He swiftly jumped around to avoid them, firing off a chain of darkness at her. She unleashed a ray of energy, snuffing out Jack's attack. Jack relented in his attack and dashed around the roof at high speed, heading straight towards Starfire. He jumped up to her and swung at her with his fist. Starfire quickly moved to block him, and replied in kind with a punch of her own, sending Jack back to the ground.

"Tougher than you look." Jack said, picking himself back up.

Cyborg shouted as he rushed at Jack, punching him directly in the side of the face. Jack grunted as he was pushed back by the blow, but he quickly straightened back up. Cyborg swung at him again, punching him in the forehead, and delivered a straight uppercut to his jaw, sending Jack flying back and onto the ground again.

"Stay down and make this easy on yourself." Cyborg said as Jack stood back up.

Jack grunted as he adjusted his lower jawbone.

"You've got a wicked punch, but you're slow." Jack said.

"If you're such an expert, why don't we go a few rounds, then?"

"How about no?" Jack turned his cane and knocked Cyborg back with a wave of darkness.

Starfire flew towards Jack and swung at him again. Jack swiftly moved to the side to avoid the attack, grabbing Starfire's arm and stopping her in place. Jack headbutted her, knocking her down, and drove a powerful knee into her stomach and then to her face, snapping her back up. Starfire groaned as she was dazed by the attack. Jack jumped up and delivered a powerful kick to her stomach and sent her flying off of the roof and to the ground below.

Jack landed back on the roof and turned just in time to catch sight of Robin as he slammed his staff straight into his face. Jack stumbled backwards as blood began to flow into his right eye due to a shattered nerve in his face. Jack frantically rubbed at his eye to clear it.

Robin spun the staff in his hand and charged at Jack. Jack swung his cane up to block Robin's strikes.

"You shouldn't have done that." Robin growled.

"What?" Jack said. "Oh, did I hurt your girlfriend?"

Robin tightened his grip on the staff and the tips burst with electricity. He quickly flipped the staff around, striking Jack with the tip. Jack shouted as the voltage ran through him. Robin followed up with a series of powerful strikes. Jack recovered from the attack and grabbed the staff, tearing it out of Robin's grasp and throwing it aside. Robin quickly jumped back, shifting to a martial arts pose.

Beast Boy morphed into a snake and coiled around Jack's legs, restricting his movement. Jack reached at him to try to fend him off, only to be struck directly in the face by Robin, and sent straight to the ground. Beast Boy followed up, wrapping Jack up completely.

Jack suddenly vanished, leaving Beast Boy and Robin confused.

"Where the heck did he disappear to?" Beast Boy spouted, turning back to normal form.

Robin was suddenly winded and left hunched over, as if he was struck by an unseen force… because he was.

"He's invisible now?!" Beast Boy shouted. He rushed towards Robin, transforming into a wolf. He stopped abruptly, unable to track Jack's scent.

"Where is he?" Robin asked, taking a blind swing around him, searching for Jack.

"I can't find him!" Beast Boy said, before being tripped and falling to the ground, and being struck in the back of the head.

"Hold on…" Raven said, as her eyes turned white. She held her hand up, surrounding an area of the roof in dark energy, and pulled Jack up, snapping him out from his invisibility phase. To everyone's surprise, he was well out of range to be able to strike Robin or Beast Boy.

"How did you manage that?" Jack asked.

"You're using dark energy for most of your attacks." Raven explained. "I use dark energy, too."

"Cool." Jack said, vanishing from Raven's grasp and reappearing near her. "But can you do this?" He delivered a powerful backhand to her face, knocking her down.

"You're gonna regret that!" Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah and made a bee-line towards Jack.

Jack swung his cane and sent Beast Boy flying back with a swath of darkness. Beast Boy morphed back to normal as his head smacked against the ground, knocking him out.

"He can stomach most of our punches." Cyborg said to Robin. "He even beat Star in a strength contest."

"Hit him with all you can." Robin said. "Don't hold back."

"Got it." Cyborg engaged his rocket arm and launched it straight at Jack.

Jack dashed to the side to avoid it and ran towards Cyborg. Robin jumped in front of him, extending his recovered staff. He reached for his utility belt and tossed a trio of Birdarangs at Jack. Jack swung his cane, knocking them away. Cyborg's arm returned and he grabbed the end of Robin's staff; Robin held onto the other end as Cyborg swung it in a wide circle before letting go, sending Robin flying straight towards Jack. Robin sailed towards him, preparing a diving kick. Jack stopped running and held his arms up to defend. Robin connected straight with Jack's arms and kicked hard, breaking Jack's defense and pushing him backwards. Robin buried the tip of his staff into the ground and carouseled around it, swinging a kick at Jack and hitting him in the face, knocking his glasses off. Robin followed up with a strike from the staff, hitting Jack in the chest. Jack grabbed the staff as it hit him and crumbled it in his hand.

Robin jumped back as Jack quickly moved towards him, swinging his cane. The top hit Robin in the head, spinning him around in a daze. Jack spun his cane, driving the tip into Robin's back. Jack spun him around and delivered a powerful uppercut to Robin's jaw, snapping him up into the air and leaving him to fall headfirst into the ground.

"Why do they follow you?" Jack asked the now-unconscious Robin.

Cyborg fired off several blasts from his sonic cannon. Jack swung his cane, swatting the blasts away. He raised his cane and launched a mortar of darkness at him. Cyborg charged up and fired another round from his cannon, connecting with the mortar and exploding it. Jack dashed across the ground, picking up his glasses, and vanished from sight.

"You're not hiding from me." Cyborg said, adjusting the sensors in his robotic eye. He looked around the roof, scanning for Jack's presence.

Jack approached Cyborg from behind and ripped the plate off of his back, exposing his circuits. He drove his cane into Cyborg's back and overloaded his system with darkness. Cyborg shouted as he fell to the ground.

"Cheers." Jack said, returning to visibility.

Jack was suddenly snatched into the air by a giant black hand, which smothered his limbs and immobilized him. He turned his attention towards Raven, who flew towards him.

"You remind me of my girlfriend." Jack said. "Sort of."

Raven tightened the grip on Jack, making him gasp from the crushing pressure on his chest.

"You gonna kill me?" Jack asked, tauntingly.

"No." Raven said, morphing the shape of the hand shadow and slamming Jack hard into the ground.

" _Can_ you?" Jack asked, standing up again.

Raven moved her hands, sending another wave of dark energy towards Jack. He held up his cane, diverting the path. Raven's eyes widened as the cane sucked all of the dark energy away.

"I should have realized it sooner…" Jack said. "When I was tracking down my cane, I thought I _felt_ another source. I let it go because it kept disappearing. I guess that was you."

Raven directed a wave of darkness at Jack's lower body, tripping him up.

"Cute." Jack chuckled. He held up his cane and blasted Raven away with an outpour of darkness.

Raven grunted as she levitated back up. She held her hands up and sent a huge wave of dark energy towards Jack. He simply held up his cane, letting it absorb the remnants of it all. Raven continued to unleash a flood of power before eventually tiring out and falling on her knees to the ground.

"That's it?" Jack said, walking towards her.

"You leave her alone!" Beast Boy shouted, morphing into his werewolf form and making a mad dash towards them.

Jack pointed his cane towards Beast Boy and fired a black orb at him. The orb exploded, causing the entire building to shake, and sent Beast Boy flying backwards to crash into the wall of another building. He slammed into it hard, leaving a huge crater in it. Beast Boy roared and jumped off the wall, landing back on the rooftop and sprinting back towards Jack.

"Stop that." Jack said, swinging his cane. An invisible force hit Beast Boy and knocked him over. Beast Boy growled and picked himself back up. Jack swung his cane repeatedly, striking Beast Boy over and over with the dark force.

Raven groaned as she stood up, dizzy from the pain of over-exerting her powers. She swung a fist at Jack, only for him to catch her with his free hand and shunt his cane into her stomach, completely winding her. Jack turned his cane back on Beast Boy and grabbed Raven by the throat, lifting her up into the air.

"I don't know about you, but…" Jack turned to Raven, bringing her close and kissing her on the mouth.

Raven grunted as she tried to push Jack away. She felt herself becoming tired as Jack drained the remainder of her dark energy. He pulled away just as she passed out.

"You could do with a little practice." Jack said, dropping her to the ground.

Beast Boy roared loudly as Jack continued to batter him with relentless dark force. Jack swung his cane down, slamming Beast Boy straight into the ground.

"You're making too much noise over there." Jack said, holding up his free hand. A dark ghostly hand appeared over Beast Boy and dropped on top of him, sending him down through the roof and all the way to the bottom floor of the building.

Jack walked over to the new hole in the roof and peered down. He adjusted his glasses, which scanned through the shadows, marking Beast Boy all the way at the bottom. He had reverted back to his normal form and fallen unconscious.

"If that'll be all, then…"

"No, it will not be." Starfire said.

Jack turned around in time to catch Starfire's fist connect with his face, sending him flying off the roof and far off into the side of another building.

"How dare you treat my friends so shamefully!" Starfire shouted as she flew towards him at high speed.

"I almost felt that one." Jack took his glasses off and put them into his coat. He held his arms up and sent out a duo of smoke clouds towards a group of buildings, and slingshot himself towards Starfire.

Starfire adjusted her flight course so that she went straight over Jack's head, and turned around, grabbing his shoulders. She swung him around and threw him straight towards the ground. She flew towards him, striking him with an unbridled punch. Jack slammed hard into the ground and bounced upwards from the impact force. Starfire flew towards him, punching him in the stomach and slamming him back into the ground with the force of a missile, shattering the earth beneath them.

"I will not show any mercy towards you." She said, landing next to him.

"Duly noted." Jack said, before catching a throe of blood in his mouth. He swung his cane at Starfire's feet, tripping her, and jumped up, flipping backwards to distance himself from her.

Starfire caught herself in mid-air and turned over, launching a barrage of Starbolts at Jack. Jack swung his cane in a circle, putting up a barrier of darkness around him. He spit the blood onto the ground and stepped on the puddle with his foot.

 _No, not now…_ Jack said, taking his foot away from the puddle. He turned his attention back to Starfire and sent a plethora of dark missiles towards her. She unleashed a surge of star energy, dousing out the missiles. She flew towards Jack and delivered a strong punch straight to Jack's face, spinning him around. She punched him in the back and grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to the ground.

Jack grunted and pushed his lower body upwards, hitting Starfire with a scorpion kick. She grabbed his leg and threw him high up into the air, and swiftly flew upwards to catch him with a powerful punch, sending him high above the city's skyline. She flew higher to meet him. Jack raised his arms in front of his chest, unable to form a proper counterattack. Starfire grabbed Jack by the shoulder for leverage, and delivered a series of superpowered punches to the exposed areas of his chest and face. She finished her assault with a decisive blow to Jacks chest, sending him flying downwards at high speed. Jack sailed towards the ground, his course interrupted several times by aerial blitzes from Starfire, sending him even faster down. He crashed into the side of a building, traveling straight through it and out of the other side, only to crash straight through another one. His path ended as he slammed straight into the corner of another building and fell to the ground.

"Try to stand, now." Starfire remarked to herself. She flew back towards the original rooftop they started their fight on, to tend to her friends.

* * *

Cyborg groaned as Robin adjusted his circuits and rebooted his system.

"Did we win?" Cyborg asked. "Tell me we did."

"I don't see him anywhere." Robin said. "We need to be quick, and tend to Raven. I don't know what happened to Starfire and Beast Boy."

Cyborg felt his functions return and stood up. Robin picked the metal plate off the ground and put it onto Cyborg's back, allowing it to secure itself.

"Find Beast Boy." Robin said, moving towards Raven.

Cyborg opened his coms unit and activated the GPS function. He closed it and walked over towards the hole in the roof, just in time to catch Beast Boy, in the form of a hawk, fly up out of it and land on the roof, turning back to normal form.

"Ow…" He groaned, rubbing his arm and back. He turned to see Cyborg. "Did you get him?"

"Nope." Cyborg said, plainly.

"Where are the others?" Beast Boy asked, turning to see Robin and Raven. He ran up to them, to see Raven sitting back up. "Are you guys okay?"

"Never better." Raven said, weakly.

"Can you get up?" Robin asked.

"Mm-mm." Raven shook her head. Robin took her arm and put it over his shoulder, and wrapped his arm around her waist, and lifted her up.

"Are you alright, Beast Boy?" Robin asked.

"Just a bruised ego." He replied.

Starfire arrived back on the roof and landed next to them all.

"My friends." She said. "I am relieved to see you all okay."

"Uh… relatively okay." Beast Boy said.

"Did you get him, Star?" Cyborg asked.

"I have defeated our enemy. But… I could not wait to confirm your safeties. I left him behind."

"We have to get to him, then." Robin said. "Show us where he is."

* * *

The Titans approached the building where Jack had fallen.

"You took care of him, alright." Cyborg remarked, seeing the holes in the sides of the buildings.

"He is there." Starfire said, pointing at Jack as he lay on his stomach on the ground, completely motionless.

"Hold up." Robin said, raising his hand. "Be careful."

The Titans walked carefully towards Jack. Cyborg adjusted the sensors in his eye, and suddenly ran towards Jack.

"Cyborg!" Robin shouted.

"No way…" Cyborg said, crouching near Jack and turning him over.

A pool of dark blood surrounded Jack's mouth and neck, and covered his clothes. Cyborg pressed his fingers to Jack's neck, checking for his vein. He didn't respond to Cyborg or the other Titans' presence.

"He's dead." Cyborg said, grimly.

Starfire gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

* * *

 **End Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Trace**

* * *

 **Thursday, 17 September**

 **6:30 pm**

The authorities and the paramedics arrived on scene after the Titans failed to revive Jack. The medic confirmed Jack's death and put him in the back of the ambulance to transfer him to the hospital.

"We're not unsympathetic to this… conundrum." Sergeant Yates said to Robin. "We understand the position it puts you kids in, and we know just how everyone else would react if they found out about it. The precinct loves you guys, and we don't want to see this mess unravel everything you've fought so hard for."

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

The Titans sat on the couch in the living room. Starfire sat with in an owling position, hugging her legs with her face buried in her knees. The rest of them looked defeated as well. They were all struck, almost paralyzed by the shock of the situation.

"He was dangerous." Robin tried to reason.

"He was a creep." Raven said.

Starfire stood up from the couch and walked around, towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Robin asked.

Starfire said nothing in response and continued out the room. Robin hung his head, deciding to leave her be.

"How could this have happened? We should have found a way to avoid this."

"Well… I found his medical files." Cyborg said. "There's some really interesting things listed."

"Like what?"

"He had several mental disorders, including bipolar I disorder… and congenital analgesia."

"Congenital Indifference to Pain?"

"What the heck does that mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"It means he's _indifferent to pain."_ Raven said.

"It means he doesn't perceive pain the same way we do." Cyborg clarified. "Simply put, he doesn't feel pain at all."

"That must be how he was able to shrug off all of our attacks." Robin said. "Normally, CIP has more drawbacks than benefits. Pain is the body's way of letting us know when there's something wrong. Since the patient doesn't know when they're hurt, they don't flinch or withdraw. That's why Jack was able to stand up, no matter how many times we put him down."

"His powers were similar to mine." Raven said. "I'll bet he was using dark energy to heal any major wounds we gave him, too."

"But how would he know if he was hurt badly enough to heal?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, I definitely hit him hard enough to break a few bones." Cyborg said. "If he learned to cope with the disorder, he probably knew when something was out of place."

"The healing could have been autonomous." Robin suggested.

"Hmm…" Cyborg rubbed his chin in thought. "Unlikely. If it were, he would have been able to pick himself back up after… well, you know."

"Right…" Robin looked down, still struck by the whole situation. He looked up, his eyes widened in a moment of clarity. "It makes sense. He didn't flinch to pain, and he got up quicker than we could knock him down. That's why Starfire used too much force when she fought him; because she thought he was immortal. And if he could heal his own injuries, then he turned his biggest weakness into his greatest asset."

"So he was practically invincible." Cyborg said. "But still just human enough to be taken out by real immortals."

"We should have read his file before we fought him. We could have avoided all of this."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Worrying about it now is just gonna drag us down."

"You're right. But we're going to have to reassess how we deal with new foes in the future. We don't need a repeat of this."

"That's for sure."

* * *

 **Jump City Northern Hospital**

 **9:12 pm**

Two doctors entered the morgue where Jack's body lay on an examiner's table and covered by a white cloth. One of them was an older woman, in her late 40's. She has shoulder-length brown hair, lazily wrapped in a bun out of her face. She was about 5'4", and a tad bit overweight. Her job is stressful. Her name is Susan.

The other one was a much younger man, in his late 20's and barely out of school. He had short brown hair, and stood at around 5'9". He is very nervous about becoming stressed out by his job. His name is Steven.

"Tell me what we got." Susan said, taking a sip from a mug of coffee.

"Umm… let's see." Steven said, picking up the medical chart and thumbing through the pages. "Uh, Jack von Nacht, 26 years old."

Susan set her coffee down and moved the sheet down off of Jack, exposing his upper torso and head.

"Ooh, cute, too." She smirked.

"Um…" Steven read through the rest of the chart. "Cause of death appears to be from massive blunt force trauma. There's bruising around the torso and face, and several broken ribs, along with ruptured organs."

Susan pulled the sheet down further, revealing the rest of Jack.

"Ohh." She cooed. "If only…"

Susan let the cloth back down and went back to her coffee. Steven looked over at a cart that carried Jack's personal effects.

"A cell phone… an odd model with an unknown supplier. Glasses, and a set of earpieces, possibly for hearing aid. A pair of black jeans… black-collared shirt and red undershirt both spattered with blood. Black duffle coat with light blood splotches… and a pair of red high-top sneakers…"

" _Oh, no."_ Midge Ure's voice rang. _"Not me… I never lost control."_

"You need to step out to answer that?" Susan asked.

"Um…" Steven turned his attention to the source.

Steven turned and picked it up. The call screen read:

 _ **Mallorie Mason CALLING**_

 _ **NUMBER RESTRICTED**_

Steven swiped his thumb across the touch screen, only for a red 'ERROR' to prompt.

"What the…" Steven said quietly, before Jack reached up from the table and grabbed him by the throat and effortlessly crushed his neck. Jack caught him, allowing him to slump quietly to the floor, while taking his phone back with his free hand.

" _You're face…"_ Midge Ure continued. _"To face… with the man who sold the world."_

Jack stood up from the table and walked towards Susan.

"Come on, Steve, seriously." She said, unaware of the recent occurrence. "Take it out of here."

Jack reached over her shoulder and wrapped his hand around her neck. Susan gasped as her body went completely rigid and she reached to fight against his grip. She couldn't free herself, though.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here." Jack said, swiftly snapping her neck and leaving her to fall to the floor. He held his phone up and swiped his thumb across the screen, putting it up to his ear. "What?"

" _Yo-yo, yiggity-yo."_ Mallorie chimed. _"What's with the attitude?"_

"I'm a bit pre-occupied at the moment."

" _Well, where the heck are you? I came by earlier and you weren't there."_

"I'm out of town at the moment."

" _Yeah? Business or pleasure?"_

"Eh, business."

" _Why didn't you invite me?"_

"Because reasons."

" _Well, come on! Tell me where you are."_

"No."

" _Jerk. I'm gonna have a GPS implanted in the back of your neck when you get home."_

"Yeah, we'll see how that goes."

" _Hey, is Nikki with you?"_

"No. Now leave me alone."

Jack hung up and set his phone down, and then turned to the cart with the rest of his stuff on it. He picked his clothes up and redressed, putting his phone in his pocket, and putting his glasses and earpieces back in. He looked around the rest of the room, expectantly, and sighed in frustration when he couldn't find it.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

* * *

 **Back at Titans Tower**

Robin and the others—minus Starfire—proceeded to the evidence room where Robin placed Jack's cane on of the displays.

"Why don't you use it, Raven?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, it channels that dark energy stuff, right? The same as your powers?"

"No." She responded. "I don't even like being this close to it."

"Why not?"

"It… feels like it's staring."

"Nevermind it." Robin said, pushing a button on the display. An electric net appeared over the cane, binding it to the display.

"Alright…" Cyborg said. "I'm gonna go try to get some sleep."

"Same here." Beast Boy said.

"I think some sleep could do us all a favor." Robin said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Cyborg said, putting his hand up in front of Robin to block his path. "Not so fast. You've still got some unfinished business."

* * *

 **A Minute Later…**

"Star?" Robin called out as he knocked on her door.

There was no reply, but Robin opened the door and stepped in anyway. Starfire was lying on her side, still curled up tightly, on her bed. She said nothing to Robin as he entered.

"Starfire…" Robin said as he walked closer. He sat down on her bed and put his hand on her shoulder. He didn't say anything for a moment. "It's gonna be okay."

"How will it be okay?" She replied, her voice devoid of any form of cheerfulness. "I am now no better than any of our foes."

"It's not like that." Robin tried to reassure her. "It was an accident. None of knew that he was just human. You only did what you did to protect us."

"That does not take away what I did. How must I continue on as if nothing has changed? I have taken another person's life. And how can you act as if nothing has changed?"

"Because I care about you. I don't want this to break you, or any of us."

* * *

 **12:22 pm**

Jack tracked the energy signature of the cane back to Titans Tower, and arrived at their front door. He interfaced his glasses with the tower, remotely disabled the outside security systems and opened the front door.

"And just five people live here." He remarked.

He stepped up to a nearby computer terminal and turned it on. He pressed a button on the frame of his glasses, which synched them with the tower's mainframe and downloaded the map for the building's layout, giving Jack a complete panoramic view of the tower. He made his way through the tower, quietly to avoid rousing the attention of any of the Titans. He arrived about 10 minutes later at the evidence room, to find his cane locked up.

"Steal my stuff? I don't think so."

Jack pushed the button on the display, doing away with the electric net. He picked up the cane and turned around to leave.

"Hmm… actually."

Jack pressed the button on his glasses and began downloading all of the files contained in the tower's hard drive. He flipped through all of the Titans' personal files.

"A bird, a robot, an alien, a demon, and a shapeshifter all walk into a city… and decide to fight crime while living in the most pretentious building ever designed. I'll have to remember that one."

Jack opened Robin's file.

"What's the matter, Robin? Don't want anyone to know your real name? Hmm."

Jack opened the others' files.

"I'm not going to even try to pronounce that… and then there's Victor, Rachel, and Garfield, heh."

Jack skimmed through some of the other files containing information on the other Titans.

"Aqua Lad, Argent, Bumblebee, Bushido, Herald, Hot Spot, Jericho, Jinx, Kid Flash, Killowat, Kole and Gnarrk, _Mas y Menos,_ Pantha, Red Star, Speedy, Terra, Thunder and Lightning, Tramm, Wildebeest, Wonder Girl… how many people are in this club, and where are they?"

Jack adjusted the sensors in his glasses to detect heat signatures. Five human-sized targets appeared across the building's layout, followed by one small target.

"That's the five I saw earlier, and a pet. Where are the rest of you?"

Jack opened the files and read through them.

"They're not in town; they're all over the planet."

Jack walked over to another nearby computer terminal and physically activated it. He pressed the button on his glasses and hacked through the firewalls.

"Quite the setup you have hear, kids. Very impressive… but not enough to keep me away."

The alarm suddenly rang out through the tower, causing Jack to jump in surprise.

"Time to go." Jack closed the terminal and vanished in a puff of black smoke.

* * *

The Titans were all woken up by the sound of the alarm and convened in the living room.

"Report." Robin said. "What tripped the alarm?"

"Security breach." Cyborg said. "Someone hacked into our system."

"I thought you said that was impossible." Beast Boy said.

"I thought so, too. I can't believe it happened. Whoever did it must have tech on par with ours."

"Gizmo?" Beast Boy suggested.

"Unlikely." Cyborg said, plainly. "I tried to trace the signal, but it just leads in a circle back to the tower. That means whoever did it broke in and hacked it physically."

"That alone should have been impossible." Robin said. "We're the only ones who can enter without triggering the proximity alarms."

"Hold on." Cyborg said, checking the system's codes. "Twenty minutes ago, the outside motion detectors and alarm were turned off, and then turned back on seconds later. A series of cameras throughout the tower were disabled and reactivated in a similar pattern."

"Which cameras?"

"The ones leading from the front entrance all the way upstairs… to the evidence room. The cameras around that area remained deactivated for about ten minutes before the alarm went off. All systems came back online seconds after."

"Get to the evidence room."

The Titans moved quickly and arrived shortly thereafter at the evidence room. They stepped inside and examined it, with Cyborg stopping to check the computer terminal. Robin made his way towards the corner of the room where he placed Jack's cane. The display was empty now.

"That's our culprit." He scowled.

"But…" Starfire choked, her voice filled with surprise. "He was… I…"

"There's no question that it was him." Robin said. "Any other thief would have taken something else, anything else."

"You're not gonna like this." Cyborg said, reading the data logs on the terminal. "He went through all the files in our system, including our personal files."

"You mean he knows who we are?" Beast Boy asked in a panicked tone. "Like, _really_ are?"

"Those files are encrypted." Robin said.

"If he can disable our security systems and just walk right in, then it doesn't surprise me if he could decrypt our data files."

"This is worse than him being dead." Raven remarked.

The computer terminal suddenly flickered, and emitted a high-pitched static tone. The Titans all perked up and crowded around the terminal to see the phenomenon.

"What's going on?" Robin asked.

"We're picking up feed from a remote broadcast." Cyborg said. "It broke through our firewall and it's forcing its way into the speakers."

" _Hello there, 'Teen Titans'…"_ Jack's voice greeted, filtering in and out of garbled static.

Robin pressed a button on the terminal, activating the microphone.

"How are you still alive?" He asked.

" _Is that what you wanted? Me, dead? I thought you were the good guys. You're not supposed to kill people. That's my job."_

"What do you want, and why did you break in?"

" _I just needed to get your attention. Do I have it? Or do you need another body?"_

"What do you mean 'another' body?" Robin asked, angrily.

" _I guess that's a yes, then. Nevermind the bodies. I want to see you all again. Especially that alien girlfriend of yours. Is she there, now?"_

"You leave her out of this." Robin said, scornfully.

" _Jealous, much? Don't let your emotions get ahead of you. This concerns all of you, you know."_

"If you want to see us so badly, then just tell us where you are. We'll be there in a flash."

" _If you're so eager then, get to St. Hetfield's Methodist Church. I'll be waiting."_

The static died down as Jack's voice cut off.

"You heard him." Robin said, plainly. "Let's move out, Titans."

* * *

 **End Chapter 5**

* * *

Credit goes to David Bowie, who wrote and recorded "The Man Who Sold the World," which was paraphrased in this chapter. The song was also rerecorded in 1982 by Midge Ure.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Broken**

* * *

 **St. Hetfield's Methodist Church**

The Titans arrived shortly at the church. Robin led them in, opening the doors as they all stepped inside. The place had been abandoned for a long time, and was completely devoid of the charm of an upkeep building. It was old and decrepit, with many of the interiors strewn about and in a broken state. All of the pews were completely strewn about onto opposite sides of the room.

"Why did he call us into a place like this?" Cyborg asked, checking his scanner. "I'm not picking up any of his body signatures."

"I can't sense him anywhere." Raven said.

Beast Boy transformed into a bloodhound, and sniffed around for a moment before reverting to human form.

"I can't find his scent." He said.

"Stay alert." Robin said. "We can't afford to be taken by surprise here. Keep close to each other."

The Titans all grouped up tightly, keeping their eyes peeled on separate corners of the enormous, dark room, watching for any sign of Jack.

"You don't think maybe this was just a ruse?" Cyborg asked.

At that moment, they had all neared the center of the room. A bright red light shot out from the floor and a strange sigil appeared on the ground.

"Move!" Robin shouted.

The red light expanded in a circular shape across the floor and ceiling, covering a third of the room in its glow. As the Titans jumped off in different directions, they ran straight into a solid force, stopping them all in their tracks. The light sounded them all in a cylindrical prison.

"What the heck is this?" Beast Boy shouted, punching at the red wall.

"It feels like a form of dark magic." Raven responded.

"Can you break through it?" Robin asked.

Raven closed her eyes and sent an astral bird towards the red wall. The wall emitted a blast of energy, which scattered the bird and hit Raven, knocking her off her feet and onto the floor.

"Raven!" Beast Boy shouted as they all crowded around to help her up.

"Are you alright?" Robin asked.

"Are you kidding?" Raven scowled. "That hurt…"

"Crap." Beast Boy said. "He's got us trapped like rats."

"Actually, rats can't be trapped this easily." Jack's voice sounded close by. "You're trapped like… carrots."

The Titans all turned towards the source at the front entrance to the church. Jack stood at the doorway and approached the red prison.

"Heh, 'let's stay close to each other.' That's exactly what I hoped you'd say."

Jack raised his cane and tapped the barrier. The sound echoed almost like metal.

"How are you guys?" He asked. "You doing alright? What have you been up to since we last met?"

"How are you still alive?" Robin asked.

"You don't expect me to answer that, do you?"

"Please answer." Starfire said. "I would like to know if I was mistaken about taking your life."

"Don't flatter yourself, Florida." Jack said. "You've got a heck of a punch, but you didn't kill me."

"I am relieved to know that." Starfire said, before taking a swing at the barrier. The force sent a shockwave throughout the entire room, causing many of the furnishings to shake, and sending Jack and the other Titans off balance. The barrier held, though, not even scratched by the attack.

"Keep trying." Jack taunted. "You'll bring the building down before the wall even moves."

"What was the point of getting us out here if you were just gonna trap us in a box?" Beast Boy shouted at him.

"It's not a box. Learn your geometry. And five against one is a rather uneven match, don't you think? I only want one of you."

As Jack spoke, the barrier warped around Robin and expelled him from its boundaries. The other Titans quickly jumped up, only to be stopped by the wall again.

"Robin!" Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire all shouted simultaneously as they pressed against the wall.

Robin turned to them, briefly, surprised by the turn of the situation. But he quickly turned his attention to Jack.

"You leave him alone!" Starfire shouted at Jack.

At that moment, the barrier tightened and shrunk down rapidly, leaving only just enough breathing room for the other Titans.

"You're making too much noise over there." Jack said. "Pipe down."

Robin pulled out his Bo staff and extended it, taking on a battle-ready stance. Jack kept a calm pose and set his cane down, pinning it to the floor.

"Isn't this the part where you demand that I let your friends go?" Jack taunted.

Robin said nothing in response.

"Don't do this, Robin." Cyborg said. "You can't take him by yourself."

"I don't have a choice." Robin said.

"That's right." Jack said. "Robin… the noble one, always so determined to win. But you'd do anything to protect your friends, even if you had to break the law."

Robin growled and charged at Jack, swinging his staff. Jack swiftly moved out of the way of each strike, and blocked the ones he was too slow to anticipate. Robin drove his staff into the floor and vaulted into a kick. Jack raised his hand and caught Robin's foot, and effortlessly threw him back. Robin landed on the floor several meters away and reclaimed his balance.

"It doesn't feel like you're really trying." Jack said. "Was I wrong about you? Are you really fighting for your friends here?"

Robin reached into his belt and tossed a trio of smoke bombs at the floor. They exploded, stacking together for a heavy effect and almost completely obscuring the room. Robin moved quietly through the miasma, making his way towards Jack's blind spot.

"What the heck's going on?" Beast Boy spoke to the others. "I can't see a thing."

"Just shut up." Cyborg said, watching the situation through his cybernetic eye.

Jack looked around blindly for a moment, before pressing the button on his glasses and picking up Robin's heat signature through the smoke. He walked quickly through the smoke towards him. Robin instantly realized he had lost his camouflage and charged towards Jack.

"That's it." Cyborg said, picking up the feedback from Jack's glasses. "Robin! He's tracking you through his glasses!"

Jack grabbed Robin's staff and threw it away from them. Robin took several punches at Jack, who made no effort to block them. Jack seized Robin by the throat and tossed him towards the barrier. Robin grunted as he hit the wall and stood back up. He pulled out a trio of birdarangs and threw them towards Jack.

Jack was caught by surprise as the birdarangs flew past him. One hit him in the forehead, dazing him. Robin pulled out his grapple gun and fired it at the wall closest to Jack. The gun pulled Robin towards him, allowing him to drive a powerful double kick to Jack's torso, knocking him straight backwards and into the wall and onto the floor. Jack's glasses fell off his face and scattered onto the floor somewhere.

The smoke had begun to clear, allowing them all to see again. As Robin landed, he noticed the glasses next to him and swiftly brought his foot down on top of them, crunching them underneath his boot. Jack stood back up, brushing the dirt off of his clothes.

"You guys just keep messing up all of my stuff." Jack said. "You've been tracking blood and dirt all over my clothes. Do you even clean your shoes? And do you know how difficult it was to make those?" He pointed at the ground by Robin's feet. "I'm one man, and I'm not funded by the 'United Nations of Free Money' like you are."

Jack charged at Robin, throwing several heavy punches at him. Robin was able to evade the slow-paced attacks, while making several counterstrikes of his own. Jack remained largely unfazed by the attacks and continued to swing at Robin.

"His CIP means that he doesn't feel pain, so he can keep going no matter how much Robin fights back." Cyborg said. "And there's no telling what end his stamina will hold up to."

Jack grabbed Robin by the shoulder and delivered a powerful punch to his stomach. Robin groaned and keeled over as Jack drove his knee into his face, knocking him over.

"Let's see how you like it when I break your stuff." Jack said.

Robin grunted as he picked himself back up, even as the pain still rang throughout his body. He stood and threw another smoke bomb, only for Jack to knock the blast away with a plume of dark energy. Jack kicked Robin's shin and sent him down, and grabbed him by the arm, twisting it as he moved behind him. Jack punched Robin in the elbow, snapping the joint and causing his lower arm to fold back over it unnaturally. Robin screamed in pain as the others gasped in shock.

Jack released Robin, kicking him in the back and sending him to the floor. Robin groaned as he grabbed his broken arm with his free hand.

"It's so nice when you have a friend as selfless as to give himself to protect his friends." Jack said, walking past Robin, towards the barrier. "Aren't you guys just so happy to see him protecting you? You're so lucky to have a friend like him."

"You bastard!" Cyborg punched the barrier. "Stop it with this sick game!"

"I will not forgive you for this!" Starfire shouted as she took several powerful swings at the barrier.

Beast Boy transformed into a yeti and joined his friends in attacking the wall while Raven attempted to break it with her powers. Jack raised his hand, sending a current of red energy throughout the inside of the barrier and shocking all of the Titans. Jack lowered his hand and the current ceased, and the Titans all fell down, winded by the attack.

"Don't slight your friend with this defiance." Jack scolded them. "He didn't say 'go!' now, did he?"

"Stand down, Titans." Robin said as he stood back up, breathing heavily and still holding onto his arm. "I'll handle this."

"Robin, no…" Starfire said, her voice breaking.

"You heard him." Jack said. "He's your leader, so do as he says… and if not, then do what _I_ say, and _stand_ _down_."

"Stay out of this, Star." Robin said. "This is between me and him."

Jack moved away from the Titans and back to Robin. Robin reached into his belt and pulled out what looked like a bomb, and threw it at the floor in between him and Jack. The bomb exploded into a cloud of gas that blanketed the area close to him and Jack's feet, and a current of electricity exploded around them. Jack shouted as he fell to his knees, his head spinning and his stomach churning. Robin appeared completely unfazed by the explosion and ran towards Jack, delivering a strong kick to his face, breaking his nose and knocking him back onto the floor.

Jack struggled to pick himself back up, still dazed by the bomb. He pressed a button on his earpiece, which sent a high-pitched whine through his ear and snapped him out of the confusion. Before he could react, Robin wrapped his free arm around his neck and pulled him into a chokehold. Jack swiftly elbowed him in the ribs and pushed him off. Jack growled as he turned around to face Robin, and dashed towards him, delivering a series of powerful blows to his face and torso.

Robin quickly found himself overwhelmed and unable to find the strength to fight back. After taking another punch to the face, he fell to the ground. Jack moved towards Robin's upper body and drove his foot into Robin's chest several times before pinning his shoe down onto his neck. Robin grunted and gagged as he tried to grab at Jack's foot to force him off.

"Choke on it." Jack said as he raised his leg up and slammed his foot back down onto Robin's throat.

The room was ghastly quiet, safe for the sound of Robin choking and a lightly audible crunching pop. Robin ceased his struggle as blood filled his mouth and splattered out onto his face, and Jack's shoe and pants. Jack lifted his foot off of Robin's deeply bruised and shattered neck. Robin let out a low moan and made no movement as Jack moved away.

"NO!" The Titans all shouted after a moment of silent shock.

Jack walked towards the barrier and picked his cane back up, making no eye contact with any of them.

"Save him if you can." He said plainly, before disappearing in a puff of black smoke.

The red barrier suddenly vanished, freeing the Titans from their prison. They all sprinted towards Robin as he lay motionless on the floor.

"We need to get him back to the tower now!" Cyborg shouted. He crouched down by Robin's body and pulled up scanners, searching for his vitals. "There's no way…"

* * *

 **End Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: What Remains**

* * *

 **Friday, September 18, 2015**

The Titans rushed Robin back to the tower and brought him to the medical bay.

"Robin!" Starfire sobbed. "Please hear us and do not leave! We will save you, please hang on!"

Raven moved her hands over Robin's injured sites, assessing the damage and trying to heal them.

"This is bad, his pulse is too weak." Cyborg said.

"His neck is swollen and it's suffocating him." Raven said. "The elbow joint in his left arm is broken and the muscles are torn, but it can wait. He has 4 broken ribs poking his internal organs."

"Can you fix them?"

"I can bring him out of danger, but I can't heal them all entirely."

"Do what you can, then. We'll tend to the rest of it normally."

Raven set to healing Robin's crushed throat and moving around his broken ribs to heal the internal bleeding sites. Robin's breathing was strained, but at least he could breathe now.

"I'm not going to be able to heal the rest of his wounds." Raven said, feeling weak as her powers began to take a toll on her. "You'll have to take care of the bones."

Cyborg shifted and gulped nervously.

"I'm not a doctor." He said.

"It's too late for us to try to find a real one now. We have the resources to do it."

Cyborg switched his eye to an x-ray view and scanned Robin's torso to find the broken bones. He picked up a surgical knife from the table and brought it to his body.

"I'm sorry, man." Cyborg groaned under his breath.

Robin's eyes shot open as Cyborg began to cut into his torso, sending a wave of pain through his body. He struggled against the binds that pinned him to the table.

* * *

 **A Bit Later…**

Raven stepped out of the medical bay where Beast Boy and Starfire were waiting in the hall.

"He's stable now." Raven said to them.

Beast Boy and Starfire both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is he gonna be… _okay_ , though?" Beast Boy asked.

"He's got a lot of broken bones that need to heal." Raven said. "He'll probably be pretty angry when he wakes up, too."

Starfire moved past Raven and into the medical bay. She stopped at the bed where Robin lay. He was breathing easily, and had bandages wrapped around his chest where Cyborg had cut him open to tend to the broken bones. He had a cast around his broken arm as well. His body was still deeply bruised, and in some places the outlines of his muscle tissue could be seen clearly.

Starfire crouched down and laid her head on the bed next to Robin. At that moment, the alarm rang out.

"Again?" Cyborg groaned, pulling up the computer in his arm. "A series of explosions and destruction of public and private property in the Lantern District."

"I think we should let the police take care of that." Beast Boy said. "I mean, Robin's…"

"That's not going to be an option." Cyborg said, grimly. "It's Cinderblock and Plasmus."

"Say WHAT?!" Beast Boy spouted. "How? They're supposed to be locked up!"

"Not anymore, they're not. We have to handle this. Star?"

Starfire said nothing, nor did she make a move to turn around. She stayed on the floor with her head resting on the table by Robin.

"We should just go." Raven said, quietly, to Cyborg. "She's so worried about him that she won't be able to use her powers."

Cyborg sighed and nodded in agreement. He took one last look at Starfire before turning back to the others.

"Alright, Titans, let's move out."

* * *

 **Second Street, Lantern District**

 **3:25 am**

Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven arrived at the scene to find Cinderblock and Plasmus had already made short work of the police dispatch. The site was in complete shambles with buildings torn apart and the roads completely wrecked.

"Titans, go!" Cyborg shouted and they all leapt to action.

Cinderblock and Plasmus roared as they noticed the Titans. Cyborg fired off a charge from his sonic cannon, and hit Cinderblock in the face, knocking him over. Beast Boy transformed into a bird and flew over Cinderblock, before turning into an elephant and dropping down on top of him.

Cyborg fired off several rounds from his cannon at Plasmus. All of the shots phased through him with little effect. Plasmus screeched before charging at him. As he did, Raven moved behind him and formed a giant hand made of dark energy. She punched directly through his back and pulled Otto straight out of his toxic form and threw him into the side of a building. Otto fell to the ground with a thud as his toxic form dissipated.

"Yeah, that's how we do it!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Cinderblock fought back and pushed Beast Boy off of him. Beast Boy charged at him and rammed him into the side of a building. Raven grabbed Cinderblock with a hand of dark energy, lifted him up and slammed him back into the ground. Beast Boy transformed into a yeti and lifted Cinderblock up and threw him across the street into another building. Cyborg laid it down with suppressing fire while Raven sent out a beam of dark energy at him. Cinderblock screamed in pain before being knocked out by the combo attack.

"Aw, yeah, baby!" Cyborg said. "That's how we roll!"

"Finally we catch a break tonight." Beast Boy said as he reverted to human form.

At that moment, Otto woke back up, morphing back into Plasmus. He quickly moved over to Cinderblock and adhered to him. They merged together to form… some… thing. Something ugly. We'll just call him 'Bob' for posterity's sake.

"Oh, great." Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"Nice going." Raven said to Beast Boy.

"What?" Beast Boy retorted. "How is it my fault?"

"Ever hear of Chekov's gun?"

"What?"

"You jinxed us."

"Will you two cut it out so we can take down this ugly thing?!" Cyborg shouted at them.

At that moment, Bob stood up and let out a loud, screeching battle-cry. He charged at the Titans, who all jumped out of the way to group up for a counterattack. Raven used dark energy to lift up a car and threw it Bob. Cyborg fired off a charged-up shot from his cannon at the car and blew it up, just as it hit Bob. Bob roared in pain, and turned around to face the Titans, roaring again at them.

"That looks like it didn't hurt him at all." Beast Boy said, meekly.

"Well, why don't you do something, then?!" Cyborg called out BB's inactivity.

"Hey, I did stuff!"

"We're all doing stuff." Raven interrupted them. "Let's keep doing stuff so that we can beat him."

Bob inhaled deeply, puffing up his chest, and sprayed a rain of acid at the Titans. Raven created a wall of dark energy around them to block the attack. The acid hit the barrier and rolled off. Bob roared angrily as he charged and struck the barrier, sending a huge web of cracks through it.

"He's tougher than just one of them." Raven groaned as she struggled to hold it

Bob punched the barrier with his other hand, this time succeeding in shattering it. Raven cried out as she was knocked down by the recoil. Cyborg amplified the spread of his cannon and fired a huge wave from it, hitting Bob in the face with it. The shot split Bob's face apart and staggered him. Beast Boy transformed into a T. Rex and battered Bob in the chest, knocking him over. Beast Boy returned to normal form, dazed by the attack.

"Oh, man, don't ever try to headbutt a wall of concrete." He groaned as he rubbed his head.

"We need to take him out in one shot." Cyborg said. "We can't let this fight drag out much longer. We're all exhausted already."

"Dude, where the heck is that guy hiding, inside of the concrete or something?"

"Hold on." Cyborg brought up the scanners in his eyes. "…no, he's still in there, somewhere."

"Hold that thought." Raven said as she sent out an astral projection of herself.

As Bob began to stand up, still recovering from the previous attack, Raven's astral bird passed through him, carrying Otto out from the toxic form yet again. The sludge around Cinderblock slumped off, leaving Cinderblock to collapse to the ground while Raven set Otto down.

"I was wondering when you were gonna do that." Beast Boy said.

* * *

 **Later…**

The police back-up arrived to deal with the villains.

"Three times in the same night?" Sgt. Yates said. "You guys just can't catch a break."

"Tell me about it." Beast Boy rolled his eyes.

"Where's the rest of your team, anyway? You're short two men a full squad."

"We had an accident earlier tonight." Cyborg said. "Jack's still alive."

"Jack?" Yates asked, surprised. "You mean the guy that…"

"Yeah, him. He's alive, and he's hurt Robin pretty badly."

"Oh, great." Yates groaned in displeasure. "The last thing this city needs is more thugs and less enforcement. Are you kids gonna be okay?"

"We're dealing with it."

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

 **8:14 am**

Robin groaned and stirred as he began to wake and move. He cried out in pain as he inadvertently aggravated his wounded sites and slumped back into the bed. He looked down at the cast on his arm, and the memories of the previous night came flooding back in blurbs. Robin remembered his fight with Jack, and the injuries he sustained. He realized that much of them were fatal, but thanks to Raven, he was able to survive.

Robin turned his head slightly to the right to see Starfire sound asleep in a chair right next to the bed.

"Star…" Robin said, weakly.

His throat still hurt. He looked around the room to see the rest of the Titans asleep in the other beds. They had been up for most of the night, keeping an eye on him to make sure he suffered no further complications from his injuries. It was only recently that they had fallen asleep. Starfire had been up the longest though.

 _At least they're okay._ He thought. He lifted his right arm, his uninjured arm, and reached over to Starfire, touching her shoulder.

"Wake up." He said.

Starfire sighed wearily as she stirred, slowly opening her eyes. As she caught view of Robin, she awoke from her sleepy confusion and stood up.

"Robin!" She shouted excitedly. "I am very glad to see you awake again."

Robin groaned in pain as Starfire tried to hug him. She quickly recoiled, remembering his injuries.

"Sorry." She said, sheepishly.

"That's okay. I'm glad you're okay, too."

The other Titans had been awoken by Starfire's cry and had just begun to get up. They rushed over to Robin's bedside as they realized he was awake, too.

"Dude!" Beast Boy called.

"Are you okay, man?" Cyborg asked.

"I'll be fine." Robin answered. "I'd like to get up now."

"You're not going to be able to move on your own." Raven said. "I stopped your bleeding, but if you try to sit up or walk, you're going to disrupt the healing process."

"The pain's bad enough to keep me from moving." Robin remarked, irritated.

"Yeah well, we'll give you what we can to settle it down." Cyborg said.

"What happened to Jack?"

The others sighed, despairingly.

"I think you know the answer to that one." Beast Boy said.

"We weren't going to leave you in danger to chase after him." Cyborg said.

"Alright, then." Robin said, trying to swallow his pride and bury the shame for the loss. He didn't want to sound angry at his friends who had just saved his life. "Any leads on him?"

"I recovered the scraps from his glasses." Cyborg said. "I call them glasses because that's what they look like. What they _really_ are is a pair of HoloLens wired to a tiny supercomputer. His tech is leaps and bounds ahead of what we've got running the Tower, or even what I've got wired to me. Everything was built into a tiny chip, so it was all destroyed. I couldn't recover anything from it. And we haven't heard anything from him, yet."

"We even went back to where we first met him." Beast Boy said. "His car was gone, too."

"That was kind of a given." Raven said.

"There's no telling where he is or what he's doing now." Cyborg said.

"He's our top priority." Robin said. "We need to find him before he causes any more trouble. There's no telling the extent of his powers, and we don't even know what his objective is. We don't know what horrible things he has in mind."

* * *

 **Gotham City, Miagani Island**

Jack exited the diner, pulled out his phone and brought up the map of Gotham. He studied it for a moment before putting his phone away. He pressed the button on his earpiece and tuned the frequency.

"… _boss… we… ship… guns… move…"_ The transmission was garbled by static and barely intelligible.

"I need to fix this thing." Jack said to himself as he turned the earpiece off. "No matter. I'll find whoever's in charge around here. And then we'll—hey, a DOG!"

Jack pointed in excitement at the German Shepherd across the street, before running towards it. The dog turned as it saw him, and barked before running away from him.

"Come here, doggy!" Jack called as he chased it. "Here, boy! Or girl, whatever you are. GET BACK HERE!"

* * *

 **End Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: With Teeth**

* * *

 **Gotham City, Bleake Island**

 **8:53 am**

A group of five black vans pulled up to the docks, near the loading bay. The workers had been cleared out. The vans came to a stop and the riders exited. There were about fifteen unsavory characters in total… and the author's not giving all of them names. Five of them were called Tim, Ryan, Donny, Ned, and Paul. The rest of them don't matter enough to warrant a name.

"Alright, guys, let's get it all loaded up." Tim said.

"Where's the people who work at the dock?" Paul asked.

"The boss paid 'em to take the day off. It's a lot cleaner than having to deal with a bunch of bodies."

The group moved towards a pile of large crates stacked onto pallets. They began moving the crates out of the pile and into the backs of the vans.

"Hold up." Tim said. "Let's see what presents we're getting for Christmas."

Tim picked up a crowbar from the back of the van, wedged it under the lid of the crate and pried it off. In the box was a stack of assault rifles.

"Not bad." Ryan said. "Let's open another."

Ryan opened up another box that had been loaded into the back of a different van. Inside was a stack of fully-automatic shotguns.

"Even better." Ryan said. "The Bat-freak won't stand a chance against these."

"Heads up." Donny said. "We've got a peeper."

The whole group turned to see Jack approaching them. Tim and Ryan quickly closed the crates back up.

"Hello, gentlemen." Jack greeted them.

"Get out of here." Tim said, drawing his gun on Jack.

"Oh, straight to it, then?" Jack asked.

Jack waved his hand, swatting the pistol away from Tim with a trail of dark energy. Tim and the rest of the gang jumped back in surprise before Jack quickly moved towards Tim and grabbed him by the throat. He hooked his foot around Tim's and tripped him, choke-slamming him into the ground and knocking him out instantly.

Ryan quickly pulled out his gun and shot at Jack. A cloud of dark energy appeared around Jack, shielding his body by catching all of the bullets. Jack turned the cloud into a giant hand that swiftly extended towards Ryan, catching him by the throat and effortlessly snapping his neck.

The others recoiled in fear as Jack dropped Ryan's body. Donny ran towards the van and pulled one of the shotguns out of the crate.

Jack raised his hand and a swath of dark energy surrounded all of the thugs, ensnaring them completely in it. Jack closed his fist and the cocoons of darkness tightened, crushing all of the thugs inside. Jack released his grip, allowing all of them to fall dead to the ground.

Donny was the only one remaining. He stared petrified at all of his dead friends; he was almost completely frozen in shock. As Jack turned to him and began to move closer, he raised the shotgun up, still trembling. He aimed at Jack and pulled the trigger… and nothing happened. He pulled the trigger numerous times, only to be greeted by the sound of blank clicking.

"You know they don't pack those things with ammo, right?" Jack said. "That's just dangerous."

Jack tore the shotgun out of Donny's grip and smacked him in the face with it, knocking him to the ground. Donny turned over and tried to crawl away, only for Jack to step on his leg and pin him down.

"No, stop!" Donny shouted. "Don't kill me! Please!"

"Shut up." Jack said, summoning his cane back to possession. He swung, slamming the top against Donny's head several times, severely bludgeoning him to death. "I can't stand whiners."

Jack stepped off of Donny's corpse and walked around the area, examining their supply. As he was looking, Tim began to stir. Jack walked over to him and grabbed him by the hair, lifting him up in the air. He wrapped his arm around Tim's neck and swiftly snapped it, before letting him drop to the ground.

Jack turned his attention back to all of the boxes in the vans. He pulled all out and bunched them together, while stacking all of the thugs into the back of one of the vans and closing the doors.

"Let's see what we've got." Jack said, pulling the lid off the box to see the guns inside. "Alright, alright, alright. Lots of nice things here."

Jack sorted through all the boxes, taking the guns out and moving them into one van. He discarded all of the boxes, throwing them aside, and then climbed into the back of the van. He sighed as he lay down.

"Yep, best place to take a nap: the back of an unmarked van filled with illegal weapons." Jack said as he reached up and closed the van's rear doors. He took off his coat and bundled it up, laying it under his head, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

 **10:37 am**

"We've done a full scan of the city now." Cyborg said. "The search turned up nothing. Jack's not in the city."

"We need to keep searching." Robin said.

The Titans had since moved Robin to the couch in the main foyer. Robin had spent the past hour laying down, hooked up to an IV to dispense painkillers, while the rest of the Titans were searching the whole city for Jack and found no trace of him.

"I thought maybe we could follow the trace left behind by his car." Cyborg said. "But his car was custom-built; there're no schematics for it anywhere. We're not gonna find it unless we can track down the manufacturer."

"I can't find his scent anywhere, other than the places where we met him already." Beast Boy said.

"If he can hide his scent, Raven would be the only one who could track him." Robin said.

"I haven't sensed his presence in a long time." Raven said. "He's either moving around as we do, or he's too far away for me to find him."

"Pull up camera feeds from nearby cities." Robin said.

Cyborg pulled up the monitor, accessing the security and traffic cameras from the closest cities. After about nearly twenty minutes of surfing the feed, he finally found Jack.

"There." Cyborg paused the clip. "Outside a diner in Gotham City. He moved towards Bleake Island, and disappeared from the cameras shortly after."

"If he's there, he's out of our hands." Robin scowled.

"Man, don't tell me you're still mad at _him."_ Cyborg groaned.

"Who is 'him'?" Starfire asked.

" _Shh."_ Beast Boy whispered to her. _"Before we formed the Titans, Robin worked with Batman. Now they don't talk anymore."_

"Oh." Starfire said.

"Look, man." Cyborg said to Robin. "He's every bit our problem as he is for any city he's in. We need to deal with him. Or at least notify Gotham's authorities to his presence."

* * *

 **Bleake Island, Docks**

 **1:01 pm**

Jack awoke from his nap, groaning as he cleaned the sleepies from his eyes. He sat up and put his coat back on, and opened the doors, stepping back out into the cold air.

"Why does it get cold so early around here?" Jack asked himself, tiredly. His phone began to ring, and he took it out and answered. "I don't want whatever you're selling."

" _Very funny."_ Nikki said. _"Did you just wake up?"_

"No, I've been awake for hours."

" _You know we've been together long enough for me to know when you're lying, right?"_

"Not long enough for you to know when I'm being sarcastic, apparently."

" _You always sound sarcastic. Half the time I don't even know when you're being serious."_

"Funny. Remind me again why we're dating?"

" _You know why."_

"Tell me anyway."

" _I'll show you when you get back… that is if you plan on coming home anytime soon. Is everything alright?"_

" _Alles ist gut."_ Jack spoke in German. _"Und Sie?"_

" _I'm gonna hang up on you if you don't speak English."_ Nikki chuckled.

"Go on and hang up, see if I care."

" _I bet you want me to."_ Nikki said, jokingly. _"You got another girlfriend to get back to?"_

"You know you're the only one for me, _Schnucki."_

" _What does that even mean?"_

"What do you think it means?"

" _I don't know. You could be calling me an idiot."_

"Well, keep thinking then. If you get it right, I'll tell you what it means."

" _Heh, whatever. I don't like it when you leave for so long. Hurry up and come home."_

"Alright, alright, alright."

" _Stop saying that."_ Nikki laughed. _"It's not funny when you say it."_

"It's hilarious when I say it."

" _Whatever. Just hurry and get back. I'll talk to you later."_

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT." Jack shouted into the phone before hanging up and putting it back in his coat. "I'm gonna be in trouble for that one."

" _You're gonna be in trouble for worse than that."_ A tough, gritty voice said from behind him.

Jack turned towards the sound, coming from the van's roof, only to be greeted by a pair of sharp claws raking across his face. Jack was stunned by the attack and stumbled backwards to the ground. He was blinded as he felt his eyes scratched and blood trickling down his face. Dark energy went to work on quickly healing the wounds, and in almost no time, Jack could see again. He stood, taking in the view of a figure crouched atop the van.

The figure jumped off the van and landed next to Jack to face him. He was a young man with straight jet-black hair, and stood at about 5'8". He wore a black and red suit almost like the ones the Titans wore, complete with a mask that shielded his eyes; one of which had a big scar across it. Strangely enough, he had no weapons on his person, even though his fingers were covered in Jack's blood.

"You're not one of them." Jack said.

"I'm not one of anyone." The suited man said. "The name's Predator, and this is my city."

"Sure it is." Jack said. "Very original."

"Enough jokes. You've got fifteen dead criminals in the back of one van and a stack of illegal weapons in another. I know you're not from Gotham, so if you're new to the game, I can tell you right now that you're off to a bad start."

"The only joke here is that costume you're wearing." Jack waved his hand and knocked Predator aside with a wave of darkness.

Predator was surprised by the attack but managed to recover and land on his feet. He dropped down on all fours and charged at Jack.

"You really are an animal, huh?" Jack raised his hand and lifted Predator up off the ground with a cloud of dark energy.

"What is this?" Predator growled as he struggled helplessly in mid-air.

"You have your tricks, I have mine." Jack walked towards him, thoroughly examining him. "You've still got spots. What are you doing going out on your own?"

"Shut up." Predator snapped as his fingers sharpened into claws and he swung wildly.

Jack stepped back, avoiding the swing. He closed his fist and the cloud of darkness tightened around Predator's limbs, restraining them. Predator snarled as he tried to fight against it, struggling to move at all.

"Let me go, you coward!" He shouted. "Fight me like a real man!"

"Go back to the circus, kid." Jack said as he flicked his wrist.

Predator was sent flying backwards several hundred feet and slammed straight into a stack of pallets, smashing them into pieces. He groaned as he stood up, rubbing the area on his back that struck the pallets. He growled furiously and charged at Jack again. Jack raised his cane and launched a salvo of dark energy blasts towards him. Predator ducked quickly in-between the blasts while still making a mad dash towards Jack. As he neared Jack, Predator raised his arm and his fingers sharpened into razor-sharp claws. He swung, only for his strike to be blocked by another cloud of darkness. The darkness surrounded Predator completely and immobilized him again.

"Listen to me." Jack said. "That's it. That's as strong as you're ever going to be. You're talented, sure, but get real. Is this all you can do? Run on your hands and feet, and grow bag-lady claws? You can't hurt me. You can barely even touch me. I could crush you right now if I wanted to. It would require absolutely no effort on my part. But why should I? You're insignificant. You might think you're special because you're different. News flash: you aren't. You're just a freak. That's all _we_ are. You can't do anything with your power, with your strength. You'll never amount to anything."

At that moment, the sound of sirens could be heard. The police station was close by, as well. Jack turned towards the source.

"I'm still smart enough to call the cops when I find a dead body." Predator smirked.

"Clever you. I'll give you that one." Jack said before swinging his arm in a wide arc, tossing Predator far off away from the docks and into the harbor. "Go be with your extended aquatic family."

Jack walked over to the van and closed the rear doors before walking away.

"What a shame." Jack said, regretfully, as raised his hand and brought it down. An enormous block of dark energy was dropped on top of the vans, completely flattening them and causing them to explode. "Oh, well. It's a big city, and there'll be plenty of opportunities for aggressive expansion."

Jack heard a bark and the sound of pattering feet on the pavement. He turned to see the German Shepherd from earlier. The dog approached, ears raised and tail wagging side to side.

"Hey there, boy." Jack kneeled down to greet the dog. "Where did you run off to earlier?"

The dog barked in response.

"That's cool. Are you hungry?" Jack asked, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a hamburger, wrapped in foil. "How did this even get there?"

The dog began to pant and drool, wagging its tail faster. Jack unwrapped the foil and broke the burger apart, dropping the pieces on the ground. The dog ate quickly, almost not bothering to chew. Jack waited for him to finish before reaching out and petting him on the head. The dog made no attempt to shy away and licked Jack's hand.

"There's a good boy." Jack said, playfully. "Do you have a name? Owner? No? You can't answer because you're a dog? That's okay. I can speak enough for the both of us. I'll call you Dinki-Di. Let's go, boy."

Jack turned and began to walk, and Dinki-Di followed in suit.

* * *

 **End Chapter 8**

* * *

 **Author's Note: The character 'Predator' belongs to** _ **Straightedge127,**_ **and is used with his permission. Check out his account and stories for more on the character.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: We Happy Few**

* * *

 **Titans Tower, Living Room**

 **6:33 pm**

"No sign of Jack in Gotham." Cyborg said. "Either he's moved somewhere else, or he's wised up and stayed off camera. It's not out of the question since he can teleport. And we can't find his car… again. Lots of people drive Chargers, though."

"We can't just assume where he is." Robin said. "We need to know. More than that, we need to be prepared to deal with him. Jack's the type who learns fast. That's why he trapped us before—to deal with me without any of you interfering."

"Notice how he didn't even make the effort to use dark energy against you? Why would he take the time to fight you hand to hand when he could have taken you out right away?"

"His goal was to break us. He was counting on my death, and for it to split up the team."

"If that's true, then why didn't he kill you outright?"

"The psychological impact of putting his life into our hands and us failing to save him would have been greater." Raven said.

"That being said, he's probably predicted the possibility of me still being alive." Robin said. "He's likely to attack us again at some point, and we have to be prepared for that."

"I have been making improvements on the R-Cycle and the T-Car." Cyborg said. "I've specked them out with heavier hardware, on the chance we get in over our heads."

"What about that _other_ thing I mentioned?"

"You mean the… yeah, that's coming along, but it won't be ready for a while. At least not for another month."

"It needs to be finished quicker than that."

"I'll do what I can, but you can't rush things like that."

"What 'thing' are you guys talking about?" Beast Boy asked. "Are you guys building cool new stuff again? I want cool new stuff, too."

"Even if I do finish 'it' early, there's no way you're gonna be able to use it." Cyborg said to Robin. "You can barely move in the state you're in right now."

"Jack won't wait for me to feel better." Robin insisted. "I need to be prepared to stand and fight along with the rest of you."

"Robin, please." Starfire said. "You are still not well from your last encounter with Jack. You need to focus on getting better, and not on fighting him."

"He's too dangerous. I won't let any of you face him without me. From what I've observed from our fights, he excels at long-range combat. That's why he tried to keep me, Cyborg and Beast Boy from getting too close to him. But he's also proficient enough at close quarters to keep us at bay."

"I.e., why he nearly killed you." Raven interjected. "Are you not picking up on why we're worried about you?"

"I GET IT." Robin shouted, slamming his fist into the desk. "I KNOW that you're all worried about me, and I KNOW that I'm in a poor condition right now. But those are the risks I took when I became a crime-fighter. We all took these risks, and we all have to face them at some point or another."

The Titans stayed completely silent while keeping their eyes fixed on Robin.

"If you were in the same condition as I am…" He continued. "What would you do? Would you let the rest of us go out alone to face an enemy as formidable as _him?_ Let us risk our lives while you can only watch?"

The Titans lowered their heads in thought as they began to understand Robin's feelings.

"That's not what I would do." He said. "And it's not what I'm going to do."

"Alright…" Cyborg sighed. "I won't harp on you about your decision. I knew that you would've just kept arguing with us anyway."

"Agreed." Starfire said. "Next time, I will not let _him_ get close enough to harm you."

"Thanks, guys." Robin smiled, relieved.

"Yeah, well… you're the leader, dude." Beast Boy said.

The others turned to Raven, expectantly.

"Fine." She said, plainly. "I wasn't expecting you to listen to us, so…"

"Now, what were you saying about Jack's fighting style?" Cyborg said to Robin.

* * *

 **Gotham City, Outskirts**

Jack sat in his car, alongside Dinki-Di, driving past the city limits. Dinki-Di lay flat on the seat, but raised his head as Jack suddenly sneezed. Jack sighed as he rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"You hear that, boy?" Jack asked the Dog. "People are talking about me behind my back."

Dinki-Di looked up at Jack, tilting his head to try to look at him better. Jack looked down at him and reached over to pet him.

"I know _you_ wouldn't talk about me behind my back."

Jack's phone rang. He sighed and picked it up, looking at the caller ID.

 _ **Nikki Ann-Marie CALLING**_

 _ **NUMBER RESTRICTED**_

Jack sighed and pressed the 'IGNORE' button, and then put the phone back down on the center console.

"I love you, sweetie." Jack muttered.

He continued to drive, ignoring the phone. It eventually stopped ringing and a chime rang out, indicating the missed call. It chimed again several seconds later. Jack looked down at the screen to see a text message, reading:

' _ **Pick up the damn phone.'**_

"I'm in trouble." Jack sighed as he dialed Mallorie's number. "And so are you."

The phone rang for several seconds before Mallorie answered.

" _Hey-yo."_ Mallorie chimed.

"Don't 'hey-yo,' me, you bitch." Jack said. "What did you say to Nikki?"

" _Why do you say that?"_

"I'm not in the mood for jokes. Why is my girlfriend aggressively calling and texting me?"

" _Any number of reasons."_

"Including that you called her and blabbed."

" _Dude, come on. She's smarter than you give her credit for, you know. She knows that you never travel for pleasure. Not without her, at least."_

"You know what? Nevermind it. I know you'd never tell me anyway."

" _Whatever you say."_

"Whatever yourself. Drive out to Hurt's house and meet me there."

" _What? Aw come on."_ Mallorie whined. _"That's 60 miles away."_

"For you. At least you won't have to drive for 7 hours."

" _Ugh, fine. I'll be there."_

"And don't say anything to Nikki."

" _Fine."_ Mallorie said, mockingly. _"But only because I love you so much."_

"Uh-huh, whatever. Oh, and bring the Wild Hunt with you." Jack said, plainly, before hanging up the phone. He let out a long sigh and pressed down hard on the accelerator, bringing the car's speed past 90 mph. "Take it from me, Dog; if you make any friends, make sure they'll do whatever you say without question."

Dinki-Di looked back up at Jack and tilted his head to the side.

"One day, you'll surprise me when you finally say something back."

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

The Titans proceeded down the hall towards Cyborg's garage. Starfire carried Robin in her arms to prevent him from walking on his own and aggravating his injuries. They arrived and entered the room; filled with the Titans' various weapons, including the T-Sub/Ship, the T-Car, and the R-Cycle. In addition, there were several other car bodies, nearly in pieces, that appeared to be in the process of construction. Aside from the vehicles, there were also numerous wooden crates that bore private military logos, and had yet to be opened.

"Uhh, what's all this junk for?" Beast Boy asked, astounded.

"There are certain situations that we need to be prepared for." Robin answered. "These are all precautions."

Cyborg led the Titans towards a large metal case on the wall; it was heavily locked up by several steel shutters, along with a keypad access. Starfire stood Robin back on the floor and he walked carefully towards it. He punched in the access code and the shutters unlocked and the case slid open.

Inside there was a skeleton of bulky, metal armor. It was acid-washed and lacking color, and looked like something that would have been used to reinforce a tank.

"Whoa." Beast Boy said, awestruck. "Who's that for?"

"It's still in the prototype phase." Cyborg said to Robin. "It still needs to be tested and analyzed for improvements. That'll take at least a few days."

"You said it wouldn't be ready for a month." Robin said.

"That was before you won us over with your little speech, and when I didn't want you to die inside that can."

At that moment, Cyborg's wrist com began to beep. He slid it open to view the screen.

"Oh, great." He said, unenthusiastically. "We've picked up on Jack's car. It just crossed the state line into Oregon."

"What's he doing there?" Robin asked.

"His record says he's from Jet City, Washington. Now that he thinks we've been dealt with, he's probably going back home."

"We need to stop him. If not now, then soon. But it's going to take time for us to prepare for him. Above all, we cannot make the same mistakes we made in our last fights. We have a lot of work to do before we'll be ready to take him on."

"We will emerge victorious this time." Starfire said. "We will be here until the very end to protect the city from people like Jack."

"We have to get started right now." Cyborg said. "As of now, we're at war."

"That's a bit extreme, but… okay." Beast Boy said.

* * *

 **Olympia, WA**

 **2:31 am**

Jack pulled into the driveway to Hurt's house and stepped out of the car. Dinki-Di followed in suit as Jack walked up to the front door, unlocked it and walked in.

The inside of the house was a mess, with dozens of boxes, both empty and filled with mechanical and electronic parts, discarded on the floor. There were clothes, empty food containers and dirty silverware stacked up on tables and piled on the floor. The whole room had an overpowering smell of spoiling food, bleach and air freshener. It was every bit as cold inside as it was outside; and there was also the same sharpness in the air as there was outside, meaning that the heater wasn't on.

Jack sighed as he shut the door behind them. Dinki-Di immediately walked over to a pile of clothes and dirty dishes, and began sniffing.

"Stay away from that." Jack said. "That's a meal not fit for even a Sarlaac."

Jack walked past the stairs and towards the kitchen, which was no cleaner than the foyer. Towards the corner free from the cabinets was a computer desk and a table with 4 monitors connected to the same computer, along with several other machines.

"You don't have to hide from me." Jack called out.

Dinki-Di growled and Jack turned as the garage door opened. Out stepped a rather short, skinny girl with messy black hair. She was wearing a disheveled, black longsleeve shirt, a pair of flannel sweatpants and plain socks.

"Are you here to kill me?" Hurt asked.

"Not unless you give me a reason to." Jack said. "I'm flattered that you felt the need to hide from me."

Hurt walked over towards her computer desk and sat down, and resumed the program she was writing.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out the salvage of his glasses: one lens and a piece of the temples and set them down in front of her.

"Those were expensive to develop." She said.

"I can give you more money." Jack said. "Can you make it again?"

"I suppose I can… it'll take a week or so."

"Great. Then we're done here." Jack said, causally, turning to leave the room. He stopped and turned back for a moment. "Thanks for letting Mallorie stay here for the night… and the dog."

Hurt said nothing in response, and kept her focus on the computer.

"Did you hear me?" Jack said, impatiently.

"I hear all." Hurt said, plainly.

"Of course."

Jack walked into the living room, which looked no cleaner than the foyer, and looked over the back of the couch to see Mallorie lying asleep. Jack reached over and pushed her onto the floor. Mallorie grunted as she landed, and stood back up.

"Gee, if only I could do something nice for you, and you arrive in the middle of the night and push me out of bed." She said, sarcastically.

"I'm the one who makes jokes around here." Jack said. "And how can you dress like _that_ in this weather? It's 30 degrees outside."

Mallorie looked down to do a take on her outfit: she was wearing a sleeveless red vest and a v-neck shirt that showed off her midriff, a pair of short, black, denim cutoff shorts, and a pair of white socks and red canvas shoes.

"What are you, my mom?" She dismissed the comment and laid back down on the couch. "The car's in the garage."

"It has a name; it's the Wild Hunt. Refer to it by name."

"Oh, shouldn't you call it a 'her,' too?" Mallorie said, sarcastically.

"It's a car, it doesn't have a gender."

"Whatever, I'm going back to sleep."

"I'll leave the keys to my car so you can get home. Bring him with you."

Jack took his keyring out and removed the key to the Charger. Mallorie took out the key to the Wild Hunt and exchanged keys with Jack.

"See you in a few days." Jack said, putting the key into his pocket.

"You're welcome." Mallorie said, expectantly.

Jack ignored the comment and left the room. He walked towards the garage and opened the door. Dinki-Di stood up to follow him.

"Stay." Jack said. _"Bleibsitzen."_

Dinki-Di froze in place and sat down on his back legs. He stared at Jack, keenly.

" _Ablegen."_

Dinki-Di walked over to the couch and jumped up on top of Mallorie on the couch.

"Ah!" Mallorie called out in surprise. "Where did you get a dog from?"

" _Gut."_ Jack called. _"Bleibsitzen."_

Jack walked into the garage and closed the door. He turned off to reveal two cars in the garage. One was a green AMC Gremlin, belonging to Hurt. The other was the Wild Hunt: a black 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT with a _Weiland_ 8 ½ supercharger sticking out of the hood and port exhausts climbing towards the back end of the car.

"There you are, precious." Jack said, walking towards the car and unlocking it.

The garage port opened, controlled remotely by Hurt.

"Thank you, Hurt." Jack said.

Jack climbed into the car and turned the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life and the supercharger whined loudly. Jack pressed the accelerator down and the car lurched forward. He quickly pulled out of the driveway and sped off down the street.

 _There are still other matters at hand._

* * *

 **End Chapter 9**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Sudden Death (Part One)**

* * *

 **One Week Later**

 **Jump City**

 **Friday, September 25, 2015**

 **5:05 pm**

" _All units, we have a reckless driver in South Central. Suspect is driving a modified, black muscle car. All units converge on Temperance Avenue and prepare to intercept suspect."_

Sergeant Yates stood along the barrier that had been place across the street of Temperance Ave. Several squad cars blocked the street, and several dozen officers stood at the ready equipped with riot equipment.

"Sarge?" One of the officers spoke to Yates. "What's going on here? Why do we need this much firepower for a 505?"

"The Teen Titans tipped us off about this guy." Yates answered. "They have a plan to bring him down, and they're counting on us to lead him to them."

"Us? Sir, if this is something so big that the Titans are involved, then shouldn't we…"

"Detective, our duty, first and foremost, is to protect this city and its people. We will uphold that oath with our dying breaths."

"Y…yes, Sergeant." The Detective responded, looking down apologetically.

"Go home if you're afraid, Hoffman."

"No, Sir. I'll stay." Detective Hoffman said, holding up his assault rifle firmly.

The sound of a V8 engine roar became louder, and from several blocks away, the Wild Hunt turned onto the street, driving fast towards the police checkpoint.

"Here he comes." Yates announced. "Stand ready."

The officer all raised their weapons, holding their sights on the approaching car. The Wild Hunt slowed down as it drew closer to the blockade, and eventually slowed to a halt just 10 meters away.

"Hold." Yates said.

The car door opened and Jack emerged. He stepped out of the car and walked towards the barricade, with all of the guns fixed on him. He stopped in front of the wooden barrier in front of Yates and pressed arms against the barrier.

"This is a very hostile checkpoint." Jack said. "I mean, if you want to see an ID, you could just ask."

"You're not getting through here." Yates said, ignoring the comment.

"You sound so sure of that." Jack said, pushing the wooden barrier over and walked right up to Yates. "How are _you_ going to stop me?"

Hoffman stepped forward, pointing his gun straight at Jack's face.

"You step away from him." Hoffman said, firmly. "I'm not saying it again."

Jack calmly turned his head to face Hoffman while staring down the barrel of his rifle.

"What happens next, then?" Jack said, plainly.

"Stand down, Hoffman." Yates said.

Hoffman breathed shakily and backed away from Jack, lowering his gun.

"It's nice when people listen, isn't it?" Jack said to Yates. "I'm sure your troops wouldn't even think of disobeying you. They respect you."

"I don't think a lowlife like you would be able to relate to that." Yates said.

"Don't insult my generosity, Sergeant."

"How is this generous? Because you haven't killed me yet?"

"You're very pessimistic. I didn't say anything about killing anyone. But the night is still young. Anyway, I think I've humored you for long enough, and it's about time that I be on my way."

Jack turned around walked back to his car. The cops all kept their guns trained on him.

"Hold." Yates called to them.

The cops held off as Jack entered the Wild Hunt and shut the door. As Jack revved the engine, the cops were all thrown back by an invisible force, and swept aside from the street. Jack sped off past them before they even had the chance to pick themselves up. Yates quickly stood up and picked up his radio.

"All units, suspect is proceeding towards Downtown. Move to intercept. Be advised: suspect is super-powered. Proceed with caution."

"Some people don't learn." Jack said as the sound of sirens rang out in the distance, becoming closer with each second.

* * *

 **South Central Projects**

"That was our warning." Robin said. "The police will lead Jack here, but it's up to us to bring him down."

"Why aren't we the ones chasing him?" Beast Boy asked. "Why get the police involved?"

"Because he's counting on getting away from them. He's afraid of facing all of us at once. He wouldn't have gone to the effort to separate me from the rest of you in the last fight, unless he wanted to be completely in control of the situation."

"Speaking of which…" Cyborg said, looking at the onboard computer. "He took out all the cops chasing him. I think that'll be our cue to intervene, before he does get away."

"We all have important roles here." Robin warned. "Stick to it as strictly as you can. Attack him with all you have. Starfire, if any of us begin to falter, keep Jack off of us. Don't deviate from the main plan."

"Got it." Everyone said, affirmatively.

* * *

Jack turned down the corner and sharply pressed the brakes and pulled to a stop. The road was blocked off by a large charter bus parked across the street.

"I smell a ruse." Jack said, shutting off the car and stepping out. "Come on out, you damn cowards."

A large sphere of dark energy wrapped around Jack and tightened. He grunted as it pulled him away from the car and tossed him straight into the side of a building. Jack fell back to the ground, landing on his feet. He stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

"I said, come out." Jack said, loudly.

There wasn't a single sign of life for miles… seemingly.

"Don't make me burn down your pretentious clubhouse."

A green fly buzzed down onto Jack's shoulder, before rapidly transforming into a giant python and coiling around his body.

"This trick again?" Jack growled and teleported away from Beast Boy.

In an instant, Beast Boy returned to his natural form before being swept away by a field of dark energy and vanishing from the area.

Jack was suddenly blindsided by a powerful blow to the face and knocked through the building behind him and straight through three more behind it. He slammed straight into the back wall of the fourth building and fell to the ground again.

"That's better." Jack said as he stood up again. He looked up to see Starfire floating in the air above him. "Oh, look: the alien's here. Someone call Mulder and Scully."

Starfire pressed her hands together and launched a barrage of starbolts at Jack. He swung his hands and deflected them with a barrier of dark energy.

"Keep trying, Alien."

As Starfire let off of her attack, the ground began underneath Jack began to shake. He looked down to see it covered in dark energy, and beginning to crumble and fall apart. Jack quickly phased over to the side to avoid the falling-apart ground.

At that moment, the heavily-reinforced T-Car smashed through the wall of a building and into the street. The sudden appearance and smokescreen disoriented Jack, long enough for the car to fire off a round from its front-mounted 30mm cannon. Jack reacted in the nick of time to form a barrier. The shell hit it and exploded, sending Jack flying into the wall of the building behind him. The car fired off another round even quicker than Jack could defend against it, this time nearly breaching the barrier. Jack groaned in frustration and raised his hand, tipping the car over with a giant hand of darkness. The hand wrapped around the car and subsequently crushed it like a tin can.

The wall behind Jack subsequently crumbled as Cyborg smashed through it. Jack quickly turned to face him, only just in time to catch a powerful blow to the face and be sent flying across the street and into the wrecked body of the T-Car. Cyborg pressed a button on his wrist, and the sound of an engine roared to life in the distance. The sound drew closer and a heavily armored, blue and chrome muscle car arrived on the scene.

"Now, it's time you see what the _C-_ Car can do." Cyborg said, definitely.

He pressed another button on his wrist, and the C-Car's hood opened, revealing a pair of dual 120mm cannons at the front of the car, and a machine gun rested behind them.

"We don't go for this kind of hardware, normally." Cyborg said. "But you've really forced us to step it up."

Jack raised his cane and unleashed a flurry of dark energy blasts at the car, all of which were deflected by the vehicle's energy shields.

"I don't think so!" Cyborg said. "You think I'm gonna let you trash my baby like that?"

" _How many 'babies' do you have?"_ Beast Boy asked on the communicator.

"Man, shut up." Cyborg said as he activated the C-Car's remote control.

Jack raised a barrier as the C-Car unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on him. The barrier held up against the seemingly-never-ending fire.

"Try this on for size." Cyborg pressed a button on his wrist, and the C-Car fired two shells from its dual cannons.

The shells hit Jack's barrier and exploded, destroying Jack's barrier and knocking him back into the building behind him. Cyborg relented with the C-Car's weapons and deactivated the remote control. He chuckled as he walked towards Jack, who still continued to pick himself up.

"You and me still got a little score to settle." Cyborg said. "I don't like when people touch my circuits."

"The feeling is mutual." Jack said.

A blanket of dark energy surrounded the area and Jack was suddenly shoved forward. Cyborg reeled back his fist and swung, only for Jack to teleport away.

"I tire of these games." Jack appeared on top of a building, further away from Cyborg. "You wanna fight me, then come on out."

Raven appeared on the rooftop in front of Jack.

"Is that all you do, just hide in the shadows?" Jack said to her.

"Yep." Raven said.

"It's a waste of talent."

Jack looked up in time to see Starfire flying towards them. He summoned his cane and fired off a barrage of dark energy blasts at her. Starfire created an energy shield around herself, and flew at high speed towards Jack. Jack raised an open hand up to her, and balled it into a fist. A giant dark hand appeared in front of him, outstretched towards Starfire. Before she could react fast enough, the dark hand closed around her, trapping her in its grip.

Raven's eyes turned white as she surrounded Jack in dark energy and immobilized him. Jack struggled against the binds as his dark energy hand was dispersed and Starfire was freed. Jack broke away from Raven's magic and teleported towards her. Raven quickly raised a barrier as Jack swung at her; the force created a huge crack in the barrier.

Starfire dropped down towards them. Jack turned around just to catch a punch to the face. He quickly regained his composure and blocked the next punch. He grabbed Starfire's arm and knocked her away from them. Raven raised her hands and trapped Jack in another field of dark energy.

"I'm getting tired of this one." Jack said as he broke away from it again.

Raven disappeared into the ground as Starfire flew towards Jack and punched him off the roof. Jack fell towards the ground and crashing through another building. He stood back up yet again, completely unfazed by the attack.

"I do admire your enthusiasm, though." Jack said as he climbed out of the wreckage.

At that moment, the Titans' T-Ship flew over the area, and a heavily-armored Robin jumped out and fell towards the battlefield. He landed on the ground next to Jack with a heavy crash.

"You're not dead." Jack said, plainly. "You just keep finding ways to impress me."

"You'll have to try harder if you want to stop us." Robin said. "I won't yield until I'm dead in the ground."

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

Medics and the remaining police force arrived on the streets of South Central to assist the officers that had been tailing Jack, in order to lead him towards the Titans. All of the cruisers had been crushed and torn apart by Jack's dark energy, but all of the cops managed to escape alive, with varying injuries.

"Sarge." Hoffman said to Yates. "Everyone's okay, for now. That's nothing short of a miracle."

"Perhaps." Yates said. "I wasn't expecting this at all, though."

"Sir?" Hoffman asked, confused.

"In cases like this, where some super-powered maniac is out on some trip, there's always casualties… and yet, this guy hasn't killed a single one of us."

"He did say 'not yet,' Sir. But now the Titans have control of things. They'll stop him for sure."

"Yeah. Until we get the word from them, we stay away from the Projects. We can't afford to get involved in a fight like this. We'd just get in their way."

* * *

Robin and Cyborg punched Jack simultaneously, sending him flying backwards. Starfire flew up behind him and punched him in the back, sending him back to the others. Robin charged at Jack with his arm outstretched, and delivered a powerful lariat to him. The force flipped Jack over and knocked him into the ground.

Jack groaned as he rolled over onto his back. The fight was beginning to take its toll on him. While he was able to hold them off in the beginning, it was difficult to manage a fight against five other people.

Robin raised his foot and brought it down on Jack's face and chest. Jack grabbed at Robin's boot and tried to force him off, but couldn't necessitate the strength. He was using most of his dark energy to heal all of the injuries he'd sustained, as well as keep himself from passing out.

"This is the end of the line." Robin said.

"How ironic..." Jack said, still in his mocking tone. "How the tables have turned… but you're forgetting one thing."

In an instant, Jack teleported out from under Robin's boot, and reappeared several hundred feet down the street, a fair distance away from the Titans.

"You're just a bunch of kids." Jack shouted at them, his tone had now changed to one of anger. "I'm not about to lose to you. Even if I do have to kill you."

Jack summoned his cane back and, holding it with both hands, thrust it into the ground. He closed his eyes as an enormous red pentagram appeared on the ground around him. The ground surrounded by the pentagram suddenly cracked as if struck by impossible force. Jack remained completely still as the pentagram began to turn slowly, until it had inverted itself around him, and then promptly vanished. Jack groaned and staggered as if he had been struck by an unseen force, and released the cane, letting it fall to the ground.

"What did he just do, Raven?" Robin asked her.

"That was an unsealing ritual." Raven said.

"Unsealing ritual?" Beast Boy asked, nervously. "What did he just unseal?"

"I don't know, but…" Raven said before suddenly gasping and falling to the ground, clutching her head.

"Raven!" Beast Boy shouted as he and the Titans rushed towards her.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked. "What's happening?"

The air around them suddenly turned sharp and the air began to pick up. They turned back to Jack, who had begun to walk back towards them, staggering with each step.

"While you and everyone else in the world may be bound by limitations like flesh…" Jack said. "I won't be. I must admit that it pains me to no end that I have to use this against a group of _kids._ But once you're all dead and gone, it won't matter."

Jack's face began to turn red, as suddenly blood began to burst from his pores. It began to trickle down his body and clothes, and soon covered him completely.

"That's gross." Cyborg said as they all looked on in horror.

"What is that?" Starfire asked, pointing at the sky.

The rest of the Titans looked towards the direction to see an enormous black cloud forming across the city. It pooled together and had centered on Jack, and funneled down towards him. The cloud turned into a solid shape around Jack and began to circle him, all while he remained as still as possible. It engulfed him completely in a black sphere and drastically began to decrease in size around him. Raven suddenly lurched forwards and a projection of her astral form was released into the air, and floated towards the mass of dark energy. It was quickly sucked into the pool, and Raven promptly fell unconscious to the ground.

"Raven!" Robin shouted as they all crowded around to check on her.

"I do not like this feeling." Starfire said, grimly.

The dark energy had taken a humanoid form around Jack's body and tightened, almost conforming to his shape. All of Jack's human characteristics had been erased, leaving behind a demonic creature cloaked by darkness. Where his eyes once were, were now two white circles, which cast an ungodly stare towards the Titans. The area around Jack's mouth had a crooked, jagged smile that almost looked like a pumpkin carving. It was like some sort of abstract monstrosity.

"He-he looks a lot scarier now." Beast Boy said, voice quavering.

Dark energy billowed around Jack's monstrous form like smoke, as if his entire body were made of it. A trail of bright purple lines followed his body, stretching down his limbs and culminating in the center of his chest. The purple lines pulsed with each breath Jack took.

"THIS…" Jack spoke, his voice echoed. "IS HOW YOU DIE."

* * *

 **End Chapter 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Sudden Death (Part Two)**

* * *

"KEPT YOU WAITING, HUH?" Jack bellowed in his amplified voice.

"We can still take him." Cyborg said. "…Right, guys?"

Jack shifted and dropped down on all fours with a ground-shaking thud.

"The energy surrounding him has to be incredibly dense." Robin said. "It has to restrict his movement to some degree, so we should have the advantage in speed."

"'Should have,' yeah, okay." Beast Boy said, snidely. "Where does that leave us?"

Jack suddenly lurched forward, scrambling across the ground like a wild beast towards the Titans.

"Titans, move!" Robin shouted.

Starfire grabbed Raven as the group jumped out of the way to avoid the monstrosity barreling towards them. They split across the street, jumping to neighboring rooftops. Jack grabbed the ground and skidded to a stop.

"Beast Boy, stay with Raven." Robin said.

"But what about-?" Beast Boy started.

"Stay with her. We'll handle Jack."

Robin and Cyborg jumped back to the street while Starfire flew towards Jack. She swerved through the air, pelting him with a barrage of starbolts; Jack ignored the attack and charged towards Robin and Cyborg.

"We don't have the advantage in stopping power, though." Cyborg said.

Robin ran ahead of the group towards Jack. As they neared, Jack halted his charge; Robin reeled back his fist and punched him in the face. The force barely budged Jack.

Robin gritted his teeth as he punched again. Jack shrugged off the blow and took a swipe at Robin. The motion was much slower than any of Jack's previous attacks, and Robin ducked underneath it. He fueled an unrestrained left hook and drove it into the side of Jack's head. Jack ignored the punch and grabbed Robin's left arm tightly. Robin struck at Jack's hand to budge him off, but to no avail. Jack began to crush the metal skeleton around his upper arm.

Starfire dove towards them and struck Jack with all of her strength. The force loosened Jack's hold on Robin and pushed him away. Starfire threw another punch only for Jack to catch her fist. His monstrous hand enveloped hers completely. Starfire struggled to free her hand with no success. Jack seized her by the throat and brought her face close to his.

"ALIEN." He growled at her.

"Get away from her!" Robin shouted as he threw another punch.

Jack raised his other hand and blocked Robin's strike. Robin locked his fingers around Jack's hand to keep a hold on him.

Jack turned his head around to catch Cyborg out of the corner of his eye. Cyborg reeled his fist back and swung, only to be caught by a hand of dark energy, formed straight out of Jack's shoulder.

"No way…" Cyborg groaned as he struggled to free his hand.

Several wisps plumed from Jack's body and formed into arms and hands. With his new limbs, Jack seized hold of the other Titans and tossed them aside.

"We can't even shake him." Cyborg said as they regrouped. "New plan?"

"New plan." Robin said. "Our only hope at succeeding… is if we hit him with the intent to kill him."

"It's not like we're pulling our punches here. We need an actual strategy here… and I think I have one, if you guys can keep him distracted for a few minutes."

Raven stirred in her wake to be met with an intense pain running through her head. She turned to see Beast Boy peering off the edge of the rooftop.

"Beast Boy…" She said, quietly.

"Raven!" He immediately turned around and rushed back to her side. "Are you okay?"

"No." She said, plainly. "What's going on?"

"We've gone from bad to worse."

Raven struggled to stand up, but to no avail. She couldn't summon her strength.

"Easy." Beast Boy urged her. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been torn in half." She said, rubbing her head.

Jack opened his mouth and inhaled deeply. The purple lines tracing his body surged in a flux of power.

"I've got an idea." Cyborg said. "It's risky, but I don't think we have a lot of options here."

"If _that_ doesn't stop him, then there's nothing we can do to keep him from running you down." Robin said.

"We won't know unless we try it. There's no telling what he'll do if we don't stop him."

"Alright. Star… help me keep Jack occupied. Cyborg, set it up."

"Yes." Starfire said.

"Got it." Cyborg pressed a button on his wrist.

The C-Car's hood opened and connected the circuits to Cyborg's power cell. The Car began to dismantle and reassemble itself to Cyborg's back and shoulders. Two large energy canisters emerged from his back and the Car's battery powered them up.

"Alright, clock's ticking." Cyborg said. "Keep him off me."

"Easier said than done." Beast Boy scoffed. "Come on, you guys, let me help!"

" _Stay with Raven."_ Robin said over the coms. _"We need you to keep an eye on her."_

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

"Sir." Hoffman said to Yates. "We've received an emergency update from the Teen Titans. The situation over in the projects has escalated too far. They've advised us to stay clear and evacuate the entire South Central district."

"Then don't waste time talking to me." Yates responded. "If they say it's an emergency, then do what they say."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

 **A Few Minutes of Fighting Later…**

"It's ready, bring him in." Cyborg's hands expanded into heavier versions of his sonic cannon and a targeting reticle appeared over his eye.

Robin tossed a cluster of smoke bombs at Jack and Starfire tackled him into the open, towards Cyborg's sights. Starfire quickly flew away from the line of fire.

"Boo-yah." Cyborg exclaimed as he pulled the trigger.

A surge of energy pulsed through his arms as he directed it at Jack. He fired a devastating blast at him; the shockwave so powerful that it broke the ground under its launch site. It travelled through the street, connecting straight with Jack. The wave engulfed Jack in its cone, decimating the buildings and ground around him. As the blast cleared, Jack stood in the mess of destruction. His dark energy coat had dwindled from its nightly black to a dull gray as the armor's thickness dwindled rapidly, as though it were melting off of him.

"Let's have another." Cyborg said.

The wires from his power cell extended towards a nearby street lamp and connected, hard-inputting him into the city's power grid. The lights all over the district went out as Cyborg's batteries amped back up, charging up the cannon.

Dark energy flowed out from Jack's body, attempting to reconnect and strengthen his weakening defense.

"Too slow!" Cyborg exclaimed as he fired another blast.

The wave hit Jack dead-on again, washing over him like the stream from a rocket engine. There wasn't much terrain left to be destroyed, and the blast dispersed quicker than the previous one.

Cyborg groaned as his transformed modifications reverted to their normal state, and the parts from the C-Car fell off his body.

"That's heavy, man." He said.

"So… did we get him?" Beast Boy asked, still watching from his position at the nearby rooftop.

The dust cleared to reveal an almost human Jack, drenched in a thick black liquid. It dripped off with the same viscosity as blood, but it was far too dark to be.

"Woah, man." Cyborg said as he and the other Titans looked on in shock.

Jack stood still for a moment, as though completely immobilized. He then took a staggering step towards Cyborg, who stood some 100 meters away.

"Okay, we didn't get him." Beast Boy said, dejectedly.

Jack took another step, and then another, picking up the pace with each one. The dark energy flourished around him, regenerating the armor destroyed by the sonic blast.

"Not good." Cyborg said as he tried to move, but to no avail. His power cell had been almost completely expended with his last attack.

With his armor replenished, Jack broke into a full sprint, and began to quickly close the gap between them. Robin had regained himself and stood up in time to witness the spectacle, but he knew that he was powerless to stop it.

"Look out!" Robin shouted in vain.

Cyborg reeled back his fist as Jack charged at him. Jack razed Cyborg with an enormous arm of dark energy, which sliced through Cyborg's arm and torso, scattering him into pieces on the ground.

"Cyborg!" Robin and Beast Boy shouted simultaneously.

Jack stepped over Cyborg's parts and charged towards Robin. Beast Boy leapt down from the rooftop, landing in the form of a rhino, and charged towards Jack to intercept him.

"Beast Boy, no!" Robin called after him.

As the two neared each other, Jack reeled back his fist and delivered a shattering blow to Beast Boy's face, stopping him right in place. Beast Boy morphed back to normal form and collapsed onto the ground. Robin pulled himself up and dashed over to them. Jack glanced briefly at Robin before raising his foot and bringing it down onto Beast Boy, nearly smothering him with its massive size alone. Robin reached them and swung both of his fists simultaneously, pushing Jack off of BB. Jack swung at Robin, knocking him straight through a building.

Robin breathed heavily as he picked himself back up. The exoframe's joints were beginning to lock up, which was restricting the movements in his left arm and right leg. Robin hesitantly reached for the frame's two limbs and detached them from the rest of the chassis. The metal arm slid off the frame and hit the ground. Robin groaned as he tried to move his left arm, which was still sore from being broken just a week ago. Even though he was wearing a metal brace around his elbow to keep the bones in place, he couldn't move it without feeling harsh pain.

As Robin tried to step forward, the right leg in the exoframe locked up, almost causing him to trip. He reached down and loosened the bolts keeping the steel plates together. He knew it would leave the plates more likely to fall off, but he couldn't risk losing his mobility in this situation.

Starfire, meanwhile, had recovered and engaged Jack in combat. She flew circles around him, tossing wave after wave of starbolts. Jack shrugged the attacks off and launched a wide arc of dark energy towards her. The blast knocked her out of the sky, and Jack jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulders.. Star groaned and struggled against his grasp.

"YOU DON'T BELONG HERE." Jack bellowed in his typically calm voice. "GO HOME."

"This _is_ my home." Starfire forced her way out of Jack's grip and punched him away.

Jack staggered back and Starfire took to the air, before diving back towards him. She reeled back her fist and swung at Jack. He caught the attack and swung in turn with his free hand. Star blocked the attack with her own free hand; and the two were locked in a grappling hold.

"I will not allow you to treat my friends this way." Starfire said.

"GO BACK TO THE SKY." Jack said. "WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE."

Jack quickly overwhelmed Star and grabbed her by the face. He slammed her into the ground. Star struggled in vain against the beating as Jack drove her into the ground repeatedly. Star's attempts at fending him off became less frantic as the fight drained from her.

"Get off of her!" Robin shouted.

Jack turned his attention to Robin before tossing the unconscious Starfire to the ground. Robin tossed a cluster of freeze grenades. Jack raised his arm up to block them; as they exploded and froze the area surrounding Jack's arm, the dark energy expanded and shattered it.

Robin charged at Jack and delivered a series of punches to his upper body. Jack ignored the attacks and took a heavy right swing at Robin. Robin ducked underneath the swing and struck Jack in the abdomen. Jack grabbed Robin by the neck and tossed him aside.

Robin growled as he jumped back up, punching Jack in the face. He quickly punched him again in the stomach before Jack took a swing at him. Robin raised his arm up and blocked it while simultaneously striking Jack in the face. Jack swung again and Robin dropped backwards to the ground, kicking him in the chest. Jack lost his footing and stumbled back and Robin jumped back up and charged, tackling him to the ground. Robin pressed his knees against Jack's arms to pin him, and began savagely punching him in the face, repeatedly.

Jack swiftly brought his arms out from under Robin and grabbed the sides of his head and began to crush the metal helmet. Robin shouted out in pain as the steel ruptured and jabbed at his skin. He pressed a button on the helmet which promptly disengaged the lock and unfastened it from his face. He promptly pulled off the mask and jumped away from Jack.

Jack unleashed a surge of dark energy which expanded around him like a dome. The blastwave knocked Robin backwards into the wall of a building. Jack charged at Robin, taking a big swing with his right hand. Robin narrowly avoided the strike. Jack reeled his left hand back for another wind-up.

A barrier of dark energy suddenly appeared in front of Robin; Jack's punch shattered it right away and collided with Robin, knocking him back. The barrier severely reduced the force of the blow, which otherwise would have smashed right through Robin's suit.

Robin looked up in a daze to see Raven floating in the air above them.

"DEMON." Jack roared at her.

"Maybe." Raven replied. "But there's only one monster here."

Jack dropped on all fours for anchorage. A black sphere began to form in front of his face, becoming larger as it collected dark energy. It grew massively before rapidly condensing to the size of a baseball. The weight of the sphere broke the ground underneath Jack, sending a large tremor through the street.

Raven was slow to react as the sphere traveled quickly towards her. She caught it in a cocoon of dark energy. The sphere's power quickly shattered it, forcing her to stack barrier upon barrier to contain it. She struggled to focus on maintaining the barriers, as she had not properly recovered from having her power drained earlier. She forced the cocoon high up into the air until she reached her limit and fell to the ground. The barriers shattered and the sphere exploded in a massively expanding orb, far off from the reaches of the Titans. The blast nearly blotted out the skyline from their perspective.

Raven groaned as she sank on her hands and knees to the ground. What little power she had recovered had just about vanished. Jack grabbed Raven by the throat and lifted her up so they were face-to-face; he peered into her eyes, and she in turn gazed into the white abyss of the circles in place of his. Raven closed her eyes and focused her remaining power.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouted.

Raven released an astral projection which traveled straight through Jack, and then promptly fizzled out. Jack grunted and staggered in place before throwing Raven aside; she collided with the wall of a building and passed out once again.

Jack suddenly fell to the ground on his knees. The dark energy covering his body began to dissipate, soon leaving Jack back to his blood-soaked human state. He had to catch himself from collapsing completely.

"Shit…" He murmured.

Robin struggled against the pain and the increasingly heavy suit to stand back up. He tripped and fell back to the ground.

"You don't look so good." Jack called out to him. "Maybe you should take a break."

Robin looked back up at Jack, gritting his teeth. He reached for a nearby pile of debris for leverage and forced himself back up.

"You really want to win this, don't you?" Jack said. "But is it because you want to stop me, or to avenge your friends? …Or is because you just don't want to lose?"

"Shut up." Robin snapped. "You've said too much for your own good."

"Joke's on you… I'm still alive."

Jack slowly stood back up. He was clearly fatigued by the battle as well. The transformation had drained him of most of his stamina, and it would be a while before he regained the ability to effectively wield dark energy again. He glanced over his shoulder at the Wild Hunt, which was still parked at the end of the street behind the bus, and had remained completely untouched by the effects of the battle.

"Fly back to your nest, bird-boy." Jack said as he turned around and began walking towards his car.

"No." Robin growled as he pulled out a trio of Birdarangs and threw them at Jack.

Jack turned around to catch the weapons: one in his chest, one in his right shoulder, and one in his right eye. He grunted and staggered backwards.

"Are you out of your mind?" Jack shouted, melodramatically.

"I'm through playing games." Robin said.

Jack pulled the knives from his body, save for the one in his eye. His wounds began to heal significantly slower than normal.

"This is what I get for taking my time." He said.

"Enough talk." Robin said. "This ends now."

Robin charged at Jack with his right arm raised; Jack put his arms up and caught Robin's strike. He struck the center of Robin's chestplate, knocking him onto his back. Jack stepped over and planted his foot against Robin's neck.

"I may not have the fancy training that you do, but at least I don't need a walking hospital to keep my insides in place." Jack said.

Robin closed his eyes and raised his arms; he pressed a button on his right gauntlet, releasing a burst of bright light. Jack was instantly blinded and in turn stepped away, rubbing frantically at his good eye.

Robin jumped to his feet and seized Jack by the throat.

"This is the end of the line!" Robin said. "Give up, now."

"Is that a line?" Jack asked. "I have one for you, too: drop dead."

Robin pulled Jack into a chokehold and began to throttle him. Jack reached up with his free hand and pulled the Birdarang out of his right eye; he swung the weapon at Robin's face. Robin moved to the side and the blade lodged itself in his bum shoulder. The pain sent a shock through his body that forced him to lose his grip. Jack swiftly ducked out from under Robin and turned around to face him. Jack punched him directly in the face, sending him onto his back.

Robin groaned as he lay on the ground. He reached for the shuriken buried deep in his shoulder. Jack moved up and kicked Robin's hand away. He crouched down so that they were nearly face to face and Robin could see Jack's bleeding right eye socket.

"I wanted you to have that back." Jack said. "You see, I don't really hold grudges. It's too much to worry about."

Jack punched Robin in the face, busting his upper lip open.

"It's a lot of unnecessary anger." Jack continued. "Of course, I'm not averse to getting even."

Jack punched Robin in the nose, and then in the mouth again. Blood began to pool over his face.

"And you know what they say…" Jack reached over and swiftly yanked the shuriken out of Robin's shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. "…An eye for an eye."

Jack grabbed the bottom of Robin's chin to hold him steady. He gripped the shuriken like a knife, and raised it up in the air.

A bolt of green energy connected directly with Jack's hand and vaporized the weapon. Jack turned his head to see Starfire floating some dozen meters away from then, channeling energy into her fists.

"Your girlfriend's here." Jack said. "I'll be right back."

Jack stepped off of Robin and proceeded towards Starfire. She sent a wave of starbolts at Jack, and he ducked to the side to avoid them. Starfire dived towards Jack and tackled him into the ground. Jack reached up and grabbed her by the throat, pushing her away from him. He kicked her off and jumped up to his feet. He grabbed Starfire and wrapped his arm around her throat, pulling her into a stranglehold. Starfire struggled against the bind, trying to free herself. Jack tightened his grip around her neck and punched her in the stomach, exasperating the remainder of her breath. Starfire's resistance dwindled and she faded out of consciousness.

"Now, _we're_ even." Jack released his grip on her neck and threw her face-first into the ground.

Jack caught a punch to the face as he turned around. He staggered backwards as Robin punched him over and over. Robin brought his leg up hard into Jack's torso and followed up with several punches. He beat him relentlessly for almost a half-minute before fatigue finally set in, and he let off.

Jack fell to his knees, chuckling almost silently from the feeling brought on by his broken ribs stabbing into his lungs. He suddenly broke into a coughing fit, and fell flat to the ground. He struggled as he pushed himself back up, his body seized up as he vomited up a torrent of blood. As Robin regained his strength, Jack pushed himself up, still spilling blood from his mouth. He looked up at Robin with a wretched smile, his teeth stained red.

"You look different…" Jack wheezed, unable to breathe properly. "I mean… that look you have… in your eyes. You've got the look… of a man gone mad. You wanted to… kill me… didn't you?"

Robin felt his nerves becoming fired up as he glared at Jack. Jack picked up a discarded piece of glass and plunged it into his chest, draining the oxygen that had been building up; he exhaled sharply and his normal breathing resumed.

"Go ahead." Jack said, more clearly. "You couldn't kill me if you wanted to, no matter how hard you tried."

Robin kicked Jack in the face and snapped him upwards, before grabbing him tightly by the neck.

"If you were going to kill me, why didn't you do it before?" Robin growled at him.

Jack licked the blood off of his teeth and gave a fake smile, his white teeth standing out against the rest of his bloodied and dirt-covered complexion.

"If you're interested in dying…" He said. "There's a folk cure that my family passed down for generations. It's called _suicide._ Our way is slow and painful—you'll like it."

Robin grabbed Jack by the shoulder and delivered a powerful headbutt to his face, knocking him right out. He dropped him to the ground, and then collapsed, exhausted from the heat of the battle.

* * *

Raven recovered her energy and stood up. She immediately rushed over to her fallen friends and set out to healing them. She came to Robin and helped him to stand back up.

"How's Starfire?" He asked.

"She's fine." Raven said. "She heals quickly. But he does, too, apparently." She looked at the unconscious Jack.

Beast Boy and Starfire approached them.

"So… did we get him?" Beast Boy asked.

"We have defeated him, right?" Starfire asked.

"Beast Boy." Robin started. "Bring Cyborg over to the car and help him pull himself together. Raven, contact the police and update them on the situation. Starfire… help me get the rest of this suit off."

* * *

 **End Chapter 11**


	12. Chapter 12, Final

**Chapter 12: Epilogue**

* * *

The police arrived shortly after. Several SWAT vans arrived accompanying the prisoner transport.

"Jeez." Yates cringed at the blood-soaked Jack. "What the hell did you kids do to him?"

"He'll live." Robin said. "He shouldn't be a problem for you."

Hoffman and several other officers approached Jack, who still sat on the ground, disinterested.

"On your feet." Yates ordered him.

"Why?" Jack asked, plainly. "Because you have a gun?"

"If you don't get up on your own, we'll just have to get the slip-lead out and drag you to the truck."

"Try it; see what happens."

Cyborg walked up to them and lifted Jack up by the back of his collar.

"Play nice." Cyborg warned as he set Jack down on his feet.

"Arms up." Hoffman said to Jack.

Jack said nothing and complied; Hoffman shackled his arms and feet.

"Get moving." Hoffman said as he motioned Jack towards the transport truck.

"I'm disinclined to acquiesce your request."

"Get in there." Cyborg shoved Jack forward.

"Rude." Jack said as he acquiesced and walked towards the truck and stepped inside. "Cozy."

Hoffman monitored while another officer locked Jack's shackles in place to the truck.

The Titans' coms units all rang out simultaneously and they flipped them open.

"Red X has been spotted." Robin said.

"Just when I thought we'd get a break." Cyborg groaned, tiredly.

Raven watched Jack as he sat in the back of the transport car, shackled in place. Jack caught her staring, and returned with a malicious grin. He faintly whispered something to her that she couldn't make word of. The police officers closed the backdoors to the car, breaking the line of sight, but Raven could feel Jack's gaze boring through the steel doors at her.

Things didn't feel right.

* * *

 **Jump City Police Department**

 **Somewhere in South Central**

"Out." Hoffman ordered.

"I don't appreciate you barking out commands to me like I'm some animal." Jack said.

"Well, I've never seen an adult humancaked in blood."

"You've never seen _Carrie_ , then." Jack said as he stood up and climbed out of the truck.

"Now get moving."

"No. Not until you ask nicely."

"Alright then."

Hoffman drew his taser and switched it on. He aimed it at the back of Jack's neck and fired the darts at him. Jack's body instantly tightened up as he dropped to the ground in a frantic spasm. Hoffman kept the taser running for several seconds before taking his hand off of the switch. Jack exhaled sharply as the shock ran its course through his system.

"Alright, get up." Hoffman ordered as he pulled the darts out of his neck. "Come on, tough guy, walk it off."

Jack shakily flipped himself over and pushed against the ground to stand.

"When I get out of this…" He said, calmly. "I'll kill you myself."

"Oh, I am begging you: just try to escape." Hoffman said. "Now, MOVE."

Hoffman and the other officers escorted Jack into the police department. Many of the people inside gave twisted glares to the blood-soaked Jack. They proceeded to the booking station and all, and soon Jack found himself in the holding cell with several criminals, who immediately moved to the other side of the cell to keep away from him. Jack calmly sat down on a bench facing the cell door, and nonchalantly turned towards the other criminals.

"Do you have a minute to talk about our Lord and Savior Satan?" He asked them in a cheerful tone.

* * *

"Jeez, Hoffman, what the hell did you bring in?" Detective Rogan said to him. "The guy looks like afterbirth."

"He's just some lunatic." Hoffman said. "He thought he could take on the Titans, but they put him in his place."

"Just some poser, huh?" Rogan scoffed. "Of course."

Detective Hader entered the office and sat down next to Rogan.

"Geez, can we hose this guy off or something?" Hader said. "I can still smell him from in here."

"We gotta wait on the Forensics Lab to get down here and get a sample of all the blood." Hoffman said. "The Titans say it all belongs to him, but we gotta be sure."

"Good luck with that." Hoffman scoffed. "The stuck-up prick barely cooperates as it is. He's not making things easy on us. We tried to pull his file from his fingerprints—the search turned up nothing. He doesn't have a record, a birth certificate, nothing. It's like we caught Bigfoot."

"That's nothing, man." Hader said. "Have you seen the stuff he was carrying when we frisked him?"

Hoffman reached over and picked up a basket filled with Jack's effects. Rogan looked into the basket, searching through it. He picked up the cell phone and tried to activate it. The screen flashed up red and displayed a prompt that read 'INVALID IDENTIFICATION.'

"What the hell?" Rogan said, putting the phone down.

"This stuff he has is on another level." Hader said as he reached into the basket and took out Jack's earpieces. "These things can pick up radio transmissions from miles away."

"Huh." Hoffman said. "I wish our budget could get us this kind of tech."

"You should see his car. It's a supercharged 1973 Falcon."

"Man, what a ride. I'd like to see that baby in action."

"Fat chance of that. It's got a killswitch built into it and the prick wouldn't unlock it. We had to tow it back here. I wouldn't count on him showing us how to use it, so after we search it, it's gonna be scrap metal."

"That's a damn shame."

"I know it."

"The guy didn't have a wallet with him?" Rogan asked.

"Nope." Hoffman replied. "Not a thing. The Titans gave us his name. I guess it's worth asking if they can get his file. Let me know when you're getting ready to move him. I'm going with you when you do."

"You got it." Rogan said. "Take it easy."

Hoffman left and headed back to his office. As he passed by the holding cells, Jack smiled and called out to him: "Detective." Hoffman returned an icy glare to him and proceeded towards his office.

* * *

 **One Week Earlier**

 **Thursday, 17 September**

Starfire punched Jack and sent him flying through the air, crashing through several buildings. His path towards the ground was interrupted as he slammed into the corner of another building, bounced off, and fell right to the ground.

Jack groaned as he lay there, unable to shake off an obscure sense of dizziness. He couldn't bring himself to stand back up, nor could he find the will to try. He waited for a moment, which felt like a lifetime, for Starfire to appear to finish him off, but she never arrived.

"Excuse me?" A soft voice called.

Jack turned his head to see a young girl standing not too far away. She looked to be about 8 years old; she was wearing a green parka and winter boots, braced for the cold weather. She walked up and kneeled down next to him.

"Are you alright, Mister?" She asked, innocently.

Jack rolled his eyes. He contemplated not answering, but decided to humor the girl anyway.

"…Not in the traditional sense." He said, plainly.

"What's does that mean?"

Jack sighed. He didn't like talking to children. They're so dense and uncomprehending. He thought carefully about dumbing down his speech.

"I'm different than you are." He said. "I don't bruise as easily as you would, but that doesn't mean I can't get hurt. But since I can't feel pain, I don't know when I am hurt."

"Why not?"

"It's how I was born. I just can't feel it. I have to be more careful to make sure that I don't… get hurt too badly."

"I don't like being hurt. It's bad."

"I can imagine. But pain is your body's way of telling you when something's wrong. Because my body can't feel pain, it doesn't know when to tell my brain that something's wrong. And that's pretty bad."

"If you were dying, wouldn't you know about it?"

"My body wouldn't know. I'd have to guess."

"So… do you _think_ you're dying?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Do you want me to get help?"

"No, don't do that." Jack sighed. "I had this coming to me. I have to deal with it."

"But don't you want someone to help you? You don't have to face things on your own. If you need help, you can always ask for it—that's what my mom says."

"That's true, but actions have consequences."

"What does that mean?"

"If you do something bad, then you have to deal with the bad things caused by what you did. Like if you take something that doesn't belong to you, you make other people angry, and then you have to face that problem."

"Did you take something that didn't belong to you?"

"No, someone took something from me. I just took it back."

"But if it belonged to you, then why are you in trouble for it?"

"Because… I didn't ask nicely."

"So?"

"I'm not a very patient person, and I don't like it when people take my stuff. People don't like it when you're mean to them. When you act like that towards people, they respond in the wrong way… and small problems just get bigger."

"Can't you just say you're sorry?"

"No, I can't. Adults don't take this lightly. You don't understand it, but as a kid you could get away with so much that I couldn't at my age."

"Like what?"

"Nevermind that. Don't follow my example."

"You're really smart. You seem like you have everything in perspective."

"Cute." Jack scoffed. "Do you even know what 'perspective' means?"

"Um… no. I heard Lady Gaga say it once."

"Lady Gaga, is that right?" Jack chuckled.

"Yeah, I like her. She's really pretty."

"Yeah, she is. What's your name, kid?"

"Emily."

"Hello, Emily. My name is Jack."

"Hi, Jack." Emily held her hand out to him. Jack sighed as he reached up to shake it. "My favorite movie is the one with the skeleton called Jack."

Jack chuckled again, before suppressing a coughing fit. He could taste the heavy flavor of blood in his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, again.

"You need to leave, now." Jack said to her. "Your mother must be worried about you being out with all this mess going on."

"Are you sure that you don't need help?"

"I'll be fine. Go on home, now."

"Okay." Emily said, still uncertain about the decision. She stood up and began to walk away, turning back towards him once more to call out 'Bye!' and took off to soon disappear from view.

"Sweet kid." Jack said to himself. "Bad judge of character."

Jack weakly rolled himself over onto his stomach and tried to stand up. His strength gave out and he collapsed onto the ground once more, coughing heavily. He could feel the blood pouring out of his mouth.

"There's no getting around it." Jack raised his hand, channeling dark energy into his palm. He touched his upper torso and quickly seized up as he felt his heart stop.

* * *

"Hey!" Hader called out, rapping on the bars.

Jack opened his eye to see Hader and Rogan standing outside the cell.

"Wake up; this isn't a rest home." Hader said. "Get up. You're being transferred."

"Good." Jack said. "This is the worst hotel I've ever stayed at. I'm locked in my room, I can see the toilet from the bed, there are no pillows… It's like a prison around here."

"Well, you'll be seeing what a prison actually looks like, soon enough."

"Hose him down before you put him back in the truck." Hoffman said, joining the group. "It'll be bad enough trying to scrub down this cell."

* * *

 **Later…**

Jack sat in the back of the prison transport truck; his arms and legs were chained together, limiting all but the most basic form of movement. Hoffman sat, clad in full riot gear and holding an assault rifle, in the back of the truck with him. Hader and Rogan were seated in the front.

Jack was also now almost soaking wet. He had been uncooperative when the guards attempted to clean the blood off of him. They were forced to hose him down while he was still clothed, and none of them had been willing to get close enough to him with a brush to do a better job at scrubbing him, much less dry him off. Now, the majority of the blood had dripped off of Jack and onto whatever surface he stood over. The back of the truck where Jack was seated was covered in crimson.

"Am I the only one in the mood for waffles?" Jack asked aloud.

Hoffman and the others ignored the comment.

"Light, fluffy stack with butter and syrup, a side of hashbrowns… bacon, glass of milk?" Jack continued, only to be met with more silence. "Come on. What, are you three on a diet? You guys are making this a more boring trip than it needs to be."

Hoffman and the group maintained silence. Hoffman kept a harsh glare fixated on Jack.

"What's the matter, Detective?" Jack asked. "You don't have anything better to do than babysit?"

"One more word and I'll put 3 bullets in your chest." Hoffman growled at him.

Jack smiled smugly as he sat in silence. He crossed his right leg over the other and buried his hands in his lap. He closed his left eye in silent meditation. After a moment, he opened both of his eyes.

" _What the hell…"_ Hoffman muttered in surprise.

A heavy jolt rocked the transport vehicle and threw it up into the air. Jack and Hoffman were knocked out of their seats, and Hader and Rogan slammed into the dashboard by the force. The vehicle turned onto its side and skidded for about 200 meters before crashing into a building, bringing its path to an abrupt halt.

"I bet that hurt." Jack said as he pushed himself up straight against the wall of the car.

Hoffman groaned and rubbed the bloody spot on his head, wincing from the sharp pain. Jack swiftly spun around and kicked him in the face.

"Detective!" Jack exclaimed, enthusiastically.

He quickly moved around so that he was standing over Hoffman's body, and wrapped the chains from his handcuffs around his neck. Jack pressed his foot against the back of Hoffman's neck, pushing him down to the floor. Hoffman struggled in vain against Jack's binds, shouting in choked gasps.

"Told you I'd kill you." Jack growled as he dug the chains into Hoffman's throat and choked him into unconsciousness. "…just kidding."

Jack let Hoffman drop to the floor of the car as he stopped struggling. Jack reached down and picked the keys off of Hoffman's belt and unlocked his shackles. The sound of sirens quickly flooded as the police escort following them stopped outside near the collapsed vehicle.

"Sounds like a party out there." Jack smirked as he kicked open the backdoors to the truck and stepped outside.

The police officers quickly jumped out of their vehicles and drew their guns on Jack.

"Down!" One of them shouted. "Put your hands over your head and get down on the ground!"

"Don't embarrass yourself." Jack said calmly as he stepped towards them.

"We are authorized to use lethal force if you do not cooperate. Final warning!"

"Really?" Jack said, mockingly. "What happens next?"

All of the police officers simultaneously groaned and grabbed at their collars. Jack's playful smirk twisted into a scornful frown as he noticed the darts sticking out of their necks. One by one, they all fell to the ground unconscious.

"You didn't." Jack said in a raised voice.

He turned his attention towards a nearby rooftop. A figure flew off from the roof, propelled by a jet pack, and landed next to Jack. The figure was dressed in a smooth, armored combat suit that appeared to be darker than the night itself. It was a female, judging from her body type, and short-statured. She was armed with a sniper rifle, as well as several other gadgets on her vest and belt. Her face was masked by a helmet with a dark visor, but Jack knew who she was.

" _Schnucki."_ Jack said, trying to adopt a kinder tone. "How have you been?"

Nikki held her rifle in one hand and removed her helmet with the other. Her blue hair cascaded across her face. Her expression didn't appear to be a kind one.

"I should put a shot in you." She said, crossly. "What the hell do you think you've been doing for a week?"

"I…" Jack paused for a moment, looking away in thought. "I… don't have an answer that will make you any less angry at me."

"You're an asshole." Nikki smacked Jack in the chest with her helmet.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"You're lucky I got involved."

A familiar rumbling of a V8 engine in the distance quickly closed in, and the Wild Hunt soon appeared to them. Mallorie stepped out of the car and joined up with the quarreling couple.

"Hey, you two." Mallorie greeted them, cheerfully. She turned smugly towards Jack. "How's it going?"

"Shut up." Jack furrowed his brow at her.

* * *

 **Soon…**

Red X raced through Downtown on his bike, with the Titans in hot pursuit in the T-Car. X took several sharp turns, maneuvering through traffic to shake them off, but the Titans remained on his trail.

"We can't let him get away." Robin said.

"I hope you have a plan to take him out." Cyborg said. "He's not going quietly, and we're not in shape for another fight."

"He _can't_ get away." Robin repeated, almost mindlessly.

Cyborg glanced at him in mild concern. He turned his attention back to Red X and pressed down on the accelerator.

* * *

Jack revved his engine and switched gears quickly. The supercharger whirred to life and the Wild Hunt rocketed forward, quickly reaching speed over 100 mph. The car thundered down the street towards an intersection at the end of the street. Jack buckled his seatbelt and pushed himself back into the seat to brace for the impact.

Red X zoomed past the intersection on his motorcycle, quickly followed by the Titans. Red X just barely cleared it before the Wild Hunt slammed into the side of the T-Car and drove them straight into the side of a building. Red X skidded to a stop and turned around to witness the spectacle. He stared for a moment in surprise at the turn of events; however, quickly decided not press his luck and made his escape on his bike.

Jack reversed the Wild Hunt from the T-Car, and then stepped out of the vehicle. He walked around towards the T-Car and peered in; they were all unconscious strewn about the inside of the vehicle. Jack punched through the passenger's window and pulled Robin out of the car and to the ground. He reached into the car and retrieved his cane from the floorboard.

"That would be mine." Jack said as he looked fondly at the cane. He let it hang loosely at his side in his hand as he turned away from the wreck. As he reached the Wild Hunt, he caught the sound of pained grunting and gasping. He turned back to see Robin leaning against the T-Car, struggling to stand up.

Jack stared expressionlessly at Robin as the latter twisted his gaze in anger and pain towards him. After a moment, Jack set the cane down in his car and walked slowly around the T-Car.

"Take a nap." Jack said as he spun around, kicking Robin directly in the face and knocking him backwards to the ground.

Jack examined Robin as he lay unconscious, and then turned around. He stepped into the Wild Hunt, starting the car up and backing away from the wreck. He sighed and let his head drop back over the seat. The world melted away as Jack closed his eyes, all perception of time and meaning vanished with it. But the sound of rapidly approaching sirens snapped Jack out of his daze.

"I can always say… it's gonna be better tomorrow." Jack sighed again as he turned on the radio.

" _Oh, no/Not me/I never lost control/You're face…"_

"To face…" Jack sang along. "With the man who sold the world."

The Wild Hunt roared like an animal and charged forward as Jack sped away, quickly making his way towards the city limits, off into the night.

* * *

 **End Chapter 12**

 **End "Teen Titans: Insomniac"**

* * *

Credit goes to David Bowie, who wrote and recorded "The Man Who Sold the World," which was paraphrased in this story.


End file.
